Buy 2, Get 1 Free · Seven prayer gifts free with The Family, through Sunday, Nov 8
1/13
Your prayer goes with him · Buy 2, Get 1 Free · ★★★★★ 4.9 · 812 mothers · Peace of mind when he's gone · He feels your prayer all day · Lasts for years, not months
Under his shirt, all day · He forgets it's there. You don't.
Everything in The Family · 3 St Benedict medals · The Prayer Card $4.99 · The Medal Guide $14.99 · 8 Audio Prayers $19.99 · The 9-Day Novena $9.99 · A Personal Prayer $22.90 · The 30-Day Prayer Journal $14.99 · $15 credit · All 7 FREE · $141.85 saved
The Unbroken Promise · Breaks within a year? A new one, free. · Not what you saw? Refunded on a photo. · Free US shipping · 5-10 working days · ★★★★★ 4.9
What mothers told us · 96% · say he still wears it 3 months later · 93% · say he asked what the letters mean · 98% · would give one again · Survey of 1,200 Oremus customers, October 2026
Not a charm. A prayer, in letters. · 1 C S P B: The Cross of our Holy Father Benedict · 2 C S S M L: May the holy cross be my light · 3 N D S M D: Let not the dragon be my guide · 4 V R S: Begone, Satan · 5 S M Q L: What you offer is evil · 6 PAX: Peace
Oremus: struck deep, 38 mm · Letters he can read · A $12 store medal · A black disc
Not our idea. The Church's. · 1415 · The prayer written out in full at Metten Abbey · 1742 · Pope Benedict XIV approves the medal · 1880 · The Jubilee medal, struck at Montecassino · Blessed free by any priest
The facts · Medal 38 mm (1.5 in), bigger than a half-dollar · 27 g, about an ounce · 316 stainless steel · Letters struck deep, filled black · Chain 24 in (60 cm), lobster clasp · Shower, sleep, work: leave it on · Replaced free for a year if it breaks
"He read every letter out loud at the kitchen table. Then he asked me what NDSMD meant." · Bernadette, Toledo OH · ★★★★★ · verified buyer
812 mothers pray with this medal
Have Father bless it. It's free. · 1 Give it to him · 2 After Mass, ask: "Father, would you give this medal the St Benedict blessing?" · 3 He wears it · Any priest, about two minutes
Where I can't go, my prayer goes.
★★★★★4.9 (812 mothers who pray with it)

St Benedict Medal Necklace for Him

Your morning prayer goes with him: a 38 mm steel St Benedict medal, struck deep, every letter readable, made to wear every day.

What mothers say most"He hasn't taken it off once."

Your Prayer Goes With Him
He Wears It Every Day
Nothing To Snap
Every Letter Readable

Every word checked letter by letter against the Church's own text.

The All Saints gifts end Sunday, Nov 8.

Free with your order today

The cover of The Prayer CardThe Prayer Card $4.99 FREE
The cover of The Medal GuideThe Medal Guide $14.99 FREE
The cover of 8 Audio Prayers8 Audio Prayers $19.99 FREE
The cover of The 9-Day NovenaThe 9-Day Novena, starting today $9.99 FREE
The cover of A Personal Prayer, Written and Read AloudA Personal Prayer, Written and Read Aloud $22.90 FREE · with The Family
The cover of The 30-Day Prayer JournalThe 30-Day Prayer Journal $14.99 FREE · with The Family
The cover of $15 Toward Your Next Piece$15 Toward Your Next Piece · FREE · with The Family
The cover of Priority processingPriority processing, ships within 24 hours $4.95 FREE · with The Whole Family

Free US shipping · tracked · arrives in 5-10 working days

The Unbroken Promise: refunded on a photo for 30 days · replaced free for a year if it breaks

Shop Pay Apple Pay Google Pay PayPalVisa Mastercard American Express Discover
Free US shipping, tracked
His prayers by email today
Monica answers every email
"I traced the letters with my thumb before I gave it to him. He did the same thing at the table, without a word."— Patricia, Scranton PA · verified buyer
What it is
  • Medal: St Benedict, round, 38 mm (1.5 in, bigger than a half-dollar), 27 g, about an ounce
  • Metal: 316 stainless steel, polished
  • Letters: struck deep on the cross side, filled in black so they stand out
  • Chain: stainless wheat chain, 24 in (60 cm), lobster clasp
  • With it: his prayer card and the guide, by email the day you order
Size & fit
The 24 in chain sits on a man's chest, under his collar; the medal is 1.5 in across, bigger than a half-dollar.
The prayer on it
The letters are a Latin prayer. Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux, Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux: May the holy cross be my light, let not the dragon be my guide. Vade Retro Satana, Numquam Suade Mihi Vana, Sunt Mala Quae Libas, Ipse Venena Bibas: Begone, Satan, never suggest vain things to me; what you offer is evil, drink the poison yourself. Above them, PAX: peace.
How to have it blessed
Any priest or deacon can bless it after Mass, free, in about two minutes. Ask him: "Father, would you bless this medal for my son? I'd like the St Benedict blessing if you have a minute."
Shipping & what's in the parcel
Free US shipping, tracked, 5-10 working days from our partner workshop in China. The medal and chain come in a simple pouch; no gift box yet. His prayer card, the guide and your eight prayers arrive by email the same day.
The Unbroken Promise
For 30 days: damaged, or not what this page shows? Send a photo, we refund you, no return. For a year: if it breaks, send a photo and a new one ships free, no return. The gifts are yours to keep. A lost piece isn't covered.
Steel, made to wear every dayNo elastic, nothing to snapReplaced free for a yearEvery letter checkedFree US shippingHis prayer card, by email today

Mothers who sent their prayer with him

Denise★★★★★

Carol★★★★★

Rosa★★★★★

Kathleen★★★★★

Marisol★★★★★

Brenda★★★★★

Jeanne★★★★★

Tom★★★★★

The pieces you sent with him didn't last.

Every morning you pray for him. At the coffee maker, at the door, at night when the house is quiet and he's somewhere you can't see. You've bought him something to carry that prayer, more than once. The book helps you pray, but it stays by your coffee cup. And the pieces you sent with him never made it past the season.

What's in the drawer

  • The "To My Son" bracelet, $44. The clasp gave out in eleven weeks. It never fit his wrist anyway. "They offered me a new one at a discount. A discount, for the gift I gave my son."
  • The $12 saint medal from the big online store. A flat, black disc. "I held it under the kitchen light and couldn't read a single letter. Neither could he."
  • The $9.99 stretch St Benedict bracelet. The elastic went in a month. "I bought four and had Father bless all four. Every one came apart."
  • The medal sold "already blessed", $49. A blessing can't be sold, and the Church says so. "Father told me he'd have blessed it for nothing after Mass."
An open kitchen drawer with a snapped bar bracelet, a blackened medal and broken wooden beads

It was never your prayer that fell short. It was what you sent it on: elastic, plating, a flat disc nobody can read. So we made the piece the prayer deserves.

Metten Abbey, Bavaria, 1647. Monks found old crosses painted on their walls, ringed with letters nobody could read anymore. The meaning had been forgotten. Then a manuscript from 1415 turned up in the abbey's library: a drawing of St Benedict holding a staff, with the words the letters stood for written out in full. They were a prayer. Pope Benedict XIV approved the medal in 1742, and in 1880 the monks of Montecassino struck the Jubilee design, the medal most people wear today.

Not a charm. A prayer, in letters.

Every letter on the St Benedict medal is the first letter of a word. Put together, they're a prayer he can say, and you can say with him. Here's what his medal reads.

  • C S P BCrux Sancti Patris BenedictiThe Cross of our Holy Father Benedict
  • C S S M LCrux Sacra Sit Mihi LuxMay the holy cross be my light
  • N D S M DNon Draco Sit Mihi DuxLet not the dragon be my guide
  • V R S N S M VVade Retro Satana, Numquam Suade Mihi VanaBegone, Satan, never suggest vain things to me
  • S M Q L I V BSunt Mala Quae Libas, Ipse Venena BibasWhat you offer is evil; drink the poison yourself
  • PAXPeace, the Benedictines' motto, at the top of the cross side
  • The crossat the center, where every line of the prayer meets

Sources: the 1415 manuscript of Metten (Bavarian State Library, Clm 8201); Benedict XIV's briefs of 1741 and 1742; the 1880 Jubilee design; the Benedictine Confederation's own page on the medal (osb.org). Every letter on our medal is checked against them.

A thumb on the St Benedict medal, every letter readable
Our St Benedict medal beside a flat black store medal of the same size
The St Benedict medal on its wheat chain beside a quarter
The St Benedict medal worn by three men of different builds

Steel, 38 mm, struck deep.

A 38 mm (1.5 in) medal, 27 g, in 316 stainless steel, the letters struck deep and filled black, on a 24 in (60 cm) stainless wheat chain with a lobster clasp.

  • No elastic, no string, nothing to restring
  • Color made to hold through showers and summers
  • The size in mm and inches, on every piece
  • If it ever breaks within a year, a new one comes free

Sized for a grown man: big enough to read every letter, flat enough to sit under a work shirt, and it goes in the shower with him.

Have Father bless it. It's free.

  1. Give it to him, or keep yours on. Nothing to do the day it arrives but open it.
  2. After Sunday Mass, find Father at the door. Any priest or deacon can bless it, not only a Benedictine. It takes about two minutes. He asks for nothing.
  3. Pray, and let him wear it. The blessing asks God's help for the one who wears it. The prayer is yours, every morning.

Not sure what to say? Say this: "Father, would you bless this medal for my son? I'd like the St Benedict blessing if you have a minute." It's printed on his prayer card too.

A woman holding the St Benedict medal in her palm over a church pew

The Church says it plainly: a prayer, never a charm.

“Sacramentals… always include a prayer.”Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1668
“Wearing charms is also reprehensible.”Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2117
“You received without pay, give without pay.”Matthew 10:8, quoted by the Catechism, 2121, on why no blessing is ever sold

If your sister says only Jesus saves, she's right, and you can tell her so: "I'm not asking the medal for anything. I'm asking Jesus, and the saint prays with me. Praying for him and praying to a necklace are two different things."

It adds nothing God was missing. It doesn't work on its own, and we'll never tell you it does. It's your prayer made visible, a reminder he carries, and a reason to say it again every time you picture it on him.

Your first prayer arrives today.

Today.The first morning of the 9-day novena and your eight prayers for him arrive by email, with his prayer card to print.
In 5-10 working days.His piece arrives, tracked, in a simple pouch.
The Sunday after.Father blesses it after Mass, free.
Every morning after that.You pray. He wears it. You both know it's there.
Send my prayer with him · $78

The Unbroken Promise: refunded on a photo for 30 days · replaced free for a year if it breaks

What you sent before, and what he carries now

OremusA "To My Son" braceletA $12 store medal
His saint's prayer, in full (on the card and in the guide)✓✗ a poem✗ nothing
Letters he can read✓ struck deep✗ no saint at all✗ a black disc
Sized for a grown man✓ in mm and inches✗ "doesn't fit an adult"✗ often 15 mm
Nothing to snap✓ steel, no elastic✗ a clasp that goes✗ a jump ring that opens
Prayers sent the same day✓ the novena and eight prayers✗✗
If it breaks within a year✓ a new one, free✗ 30% off a new one✗ nothing
The blessing✓ Father blesses it free, we never sell it✗ none✗ sometimes sold "blessed"
Send my prayer with him · $78
A woman’s hands writing in a notebook at a kitchen table, a wooden rosary and a mug beside it

Monica

The woman who answers every email at Oremus

My son Daniel is twenty-six. He works on wind farms three states away, and most days I don't know which county he's in. For years I prayed for him at the door and sent the prayer with whatever I could find: a "To My Son" bracelet that broke before spring, a medal from the big online store that was a black disc. I wanted something of my prayer to go where I can't, on a piece that lasts and that he can actually read. That's Oremus. I read the first name on every order, and I pray for those names on Sunday. When you write to us, it's me who writes back.

Monica, at Oremus

Mothers on what changed at the door

A customer’s photo of the St Benedict medal
★★★★★

"He put it on in the driveway."

I'd planned a whole speech. He opened the pouch, read the back, put it over his head and got in his truck. That was March. It's still on.

Linda, Cedar Rapids IA · for her son, 27

A customer’s photo of the St Benedict medal
★★★★★

"My prayer every morning, and now he carries it."

I pray for my boys at the coffee maker. I gave each of them the medal and told them what the letters say. Now when I pray, I picture it on them.

Kathleen, Worcester MA · for her two sons, 31 and 28

A customer’s photo of the St Benedict medal
★★★★★

"Finally one he can actually read."

I'd bought two medals online before. Black, flat, nothing on them you could make out. This one you can read across the table.

Gloria, El Paso TX · for her grandson, 22

A customer’s photo of the St Benedict medal
★★★★★

"He shipped out with it."

Father blessed it the Sunday before he left for Fort Benning. I can't go where he goes. That medal can.

Renee, Fayetteville NC · for her son, 19

A customer’s photo of the St Benedict medal
★★★★★

"I was sure he'd leave it in a drawer."

He doesn't wear jewelry, he told me so twice. He wears this. He says it doesn't count as jewelry.

Sharon, Boise ID · for her son, 34

A customer’s photo of the St Benedict medal
★★★★☆

"Bigger than I pictured, and that's fine."

I expected something small. It's an inch and a half across, but it sits flat under his shirt and the letters are sharp. Four stars only because I wish it came in a box.

Teresa, Modesto CA · for her husband

Everything that comes with his piece

The cover of The Prayer Card

The Prayer Card

$4.99 FREE

with every order

His saint's prayer in Latin and English, checked letter by letter, sized for his wallet, with the one line to say to Father. So you never wonder what prayer goes with it.

The cover of The Medal Guide

The Medal Guide

$14.99 FREE

with every order

Every letter, sign and date on his medal, explained in plain words. When he asks what it says, you'll know, and so will he.

The cover of 8 Audio Prayers

8 Audio Prayers

$19.99 FREE

with every order

Eight prayers read slowly, two to four minutes each: the St Michael prayer of Leo XIII, the St Benedict prayer, the Memorare, Psalm 91, a mother's morning prayer, a prayer for a son far away, a prayer for a hard year, a prayer at the door. For the mornings you don't have the words.

The cover of The 9-Day Novena

The 9-Day Novena

$9.99 FREE

with every order

Nine mornings by email, his name in each prayer, starting the day you order. Your prayer starts before his piece even ships.

The cover of A Personal Prayer, Written and Read Aloud

A Personal Prayer, Written and Read Aloud

$22.90 FREE

with The Family

A prayer with the name of the one you pray for: who they are to you, where they go, what they face. As a PDF to pray, and read aloud by a calm voice, about two minutes, to keep or to send. For the times you don't know what to say.

The cover of The 30-Day Prayer Journal

The 30-Day Prayer Journal

$14.99 FREE

with The Family

A prayer journal to print, one page a morning, in versions for a son, a husband and a grandchild. For the habit that slips in a busy month.

The cover of $15 Toward Your Next Piece

$15 Toward Your Next Piece

FREE

with The Family

Store credit by email, for the next person you pray for.

The cover of Priority processing

Priority processing

$4.95 FREE

with The Whole Family

Your order ships within 24 hours instead of the usual handling time, so the piece leaves sooner.

Four gifts worth $49.96 with one piece. All seven, worth $102.85, with The Family; The Whole Family adds priority processing. The gifts are yours to keep, whatever happens.

The Unbroken Promise

For 30 days: if it arrives damaged or isn't what this page shows, send us a photo. We refund you. You don't send anything back.

For a whole year: if it breaks, send us a photo. A new one ships free. You don't send the broken one back.

The gifts are yours to keep, whatever happens.

One thing we can't cover: a piece that's lost. If he loses it, write to Monica; we'll make the next one easy.

One for him, one for you, one for the next name.

The St Benedict medal, cross side

For Him

1 piece

His piece

1 St Benedict medal

$39 $88.96Save $49.96
  • The Prayer Card
  • The Medal Guide
  • 8 Audio Prayers
  • The 9-Day Novena
Send my prayer with him · $39
Most popular
The St Benedict medal, cross sideThe St Benedict medal, cross sideThe St Benedict medal, cross side

The Family

Buy 2, Get 1 Free

One for him, one for you, one for the next name

3 St Benedict medals, $26 each

$78 $219.85Save $141.85
  • The Prayer Card
  • The Medal Guide
  • 8 Audio Prayers
  • The 9-Day Novena
  • A Personal Prayer, Written and Read Aloud
  • The 30-Day Prayer Journal
  • $15 Toward Your Next Piece
Send my prayer with him · $78
Best value
The St Benedict medal, cross sideThe St Benedict medal, cross sideThe St Benedict medal, cross sideThe St Benedict medal, cross sideThe St Benedict medal, cross side

The Whole Family

Buy 3, Get 2 Free

One for everyone you pray for

5 St Benedict medals, $23.40 each

$117 $302.80Save $185.80
  • The Prayer Card
  • The Medal Guide
  • 8 Audio Prayers
  • The 9-Day Novena
  • A Personal Prayer, Written and Read Aloud
  • The 30-Day Prayer Journal
  • $15 Toward Your Next Piece
  • Priority processing
Send my prayer with him · $117

The Unbroken Promise: refunded on a photo for 30 days · replaced free for a year if it breaks

Plain answers, before you order

Who we are. A small Catholic shop. Monica answers every email herself, at hello@oremusjewelry.com, within one working day.
Where it ships from. Your piece is made and shipped by our partner workshop in China, tracked to your door. We say it here so you never hear it from the label first.
How long it takes. 5-10 working days, with a tracking number by email. Your prayers and his prayer card come the same day, by email.
What's in the parcel. The piece in a simple pouch. No gift box yet, and no printed card: his prayer card comes by email, sized to print at home and slip in his wallet.
What you pay. The price on the button is the price at checkout: $39 for one piece, $78 for The Family, $117 for The Whole Family, shipping free. An optional shipping protection is offered in the cart; leave it unticked if you don't want it.
He doesn't wear jewelry. Will he wear this?
Most of the sons in our reviews said the same before it came. A steel medal under his shirt or a plain cable on his wrist doesn't read as jewelry; it reads as his saint. If he won't wear anything, the St Christopher visor clip rides in his truck instead. And if it isn't for him, the 30-day promise covers you.
What if it breaks?
Send us a photo. A new one ships free, for a whole year, and you don't send the broken one back. That's The Unbroken Promise.
Can he actually read the letters?
Yes. Every medal's size is on its page, and on our 38 mm St Benedict medal the letters are struck deep enough to trace with a thumb. Every one is explained in The Medal Guide. If yours arrives with a letter you can't read, send a photo and we refund you.
Is it blessed?
Not yet, and that's on purpose. A blessing can't be sold. Any priest or deacon will bless it for free after Mass, in about two minutes, and the line to say to him is on the prayer card.
Does it have to be blessed to count?
No. The medal is a prayer whether or not it's blessed; the blessing adds the Church's own prayer for the one who wears it. Most of our mothers ask Father the first Sunday it arrives.
Isn't this a charm? My sister says only Jesus saves.
She's right that only Jesus saves, and so does the Church: "Wearing charms is also reprehensible" (Catechism 2117). The medal is a prayer you can see, and the saint prays with you. Praying with a saint and trusting a necklace are two different things.
He's leaving for boot camp. Can he take it?
Recruits usually may keep a small religious medal, but rules vary by branch and by drill instructor, so have him ask at his recruiter's office. Many of our mothers give the medal at graduation or before the first deployment instead.
My husband is a lineman. Can he wear metal on the job?
Linemen aren't allowed conductive jewelry on live lines. Our lineman wives keep the St Christopher visor clip in his truck, or the medal in his bag, and he puts it on when he's off the line.
Where does it ship from, and how long does it take?
From our partner workshop in China, tracked, in 5-10 working days. Your prayers and his prayer card arrive by email the same day you order.
Does it come in a gift box?
Not yet: a simple pouch, and his prayer card by email to print at home. Many mothers tuck the printed card in with the piece and hand it to him themselves.
Will the price change at checkout?
No. $39 for one piece, $78 for The Family or $117 for The Whole Family, shipping free. The only extra is an optional shipping protection in the cart, which you can untick.
Can I mix different pieces in the Buy 2, Get 1?
The offer is three of the same piece: one for him, one for you, one for the next name on your list. If you'd like two different saints, the Mother & Son Pair gives him the St Benedict bracelet and you the Miraculous Medal bracelet, as one set, from $49.
Can I buy one for someone who isn't Catholic?
Yes. The Church blesses objects for non-Catholics too (canon 1170), and many of our reviews are from Protestant and Baptist mothers. The St Michael medal and the crucifix are the easiest first gift.
What if he loses it?
A lost piece isn't covered by The Unbroken Promise; only a broken one is. Write to Monica: we'll make the next one easy, and the $15 credit from The Family is there for exactly that.
What exactly do the letters say?
A Latin prayer: "May the holy cross be my light, let not the dragon be my guide. Begone, Satan, never suggest vain things to me; what you offer is evil, drink the poison yourself." The guide explains every letter.
Which side faces out?
The Church prescribes no special way to wear it. Most men wear the cross side, with the letters, against the chest; either side is right.
Can he shower and sleep in it?
Yes. It's stainless steel, and most of our sons never take it off. If the chain ever breaks, we send a new one free within the year.
Is this the real St Benedict medal?
It's the 1880 Jubilee design, with every letter of the prayer, checked against the Benedictines' own text. We never call it "official Montecassino": the design is the Church's, the medal is ours.

★★★★★ 4.8 · 2,600+ mothers pray with Oremus

Where you can't go, your prayer goes.

  • Buy 2, Get 1 Free: one for him, one for you, one for the next name
  • Seven prayer gifts free with The Family, through Sunday, Nov 8
  • The Unbroken Promise: replaced free for a year
Send my prayer with him · $78
A young man leaving through the front door, the medal at his collar, his mother’s hand on his shoulder
4.9
★★★★★

812 reviews

★★★★★742
★★★★52
★★★12
★★4
★2
A customer’s photo of the St Benedict medal
A customer’s photo of the St Benedict medal
A customer’s photo of the St Benedict medal
A customer’s photo of the St Benedict medal
MaureenPittsburgh PA
★★★★★

"Three sons, three medals."

I bought The Whole Family and had Father bless all five on Palm Sunday. My husband took the fifth.

DebraBillings MT
★★★★★

"He texted me a photo of it."

He's on a rig in North Dakota. The photo was just his collar and the medal. I cried in the parking lot at work.

AngelaJoliet IL
★★★★★

"The letters are the gift."

I printed the prayer card and taped it inside his toolbox. He knows it by heart now.

LorraineTulsa OK
★★★★★

"Heavier than the cheap ones."

You can feel it's steel. No green on his neck after a summer of roofing.

CarmenSan Antonio TX
★★★★★

"Monica wrote back in an hour."

I asked about the chain length for a big man. She answered herself and was right.

JoanKnoxville TN
★★★★★

"My Baptist daughter-in-law asked for one."

She read the guide and said she'd never known what the letters meant.

NancyErie PA
★★★★

"Took nine days."

Longer than I'd like, but tracked the whole way and exactly as pictured.

DoloresAlbuquerque NM
★★★★★

"For my grandson's confirmation."

He chose St Benedict as his saint. Now he has his saint's prayer around his neck.

One for the next name on your list

The St Michael medal on its chain

St Michael Medal Necklace

★★★★★ 4.8 (391)2 for $39.99 $79.98See it →
His St Benedict bracelet and her Miraculous Medal bracelet

The Mother & Son Pair

★★★★★ 4.9 (418)2 for $39.99 $79.98See it →
The St Benedict cable bracelet in steel

St Benedict Cable Bracelet

★★★★★ 4.8 (634)2 for $39.99 $79.98See it →
The St Christopher visor clip

St Christopher Visor Clip

★★★★★ 4.8 (116)2 for $39.99 $79.98See it →

Will it fit him?

  • Every piece shows its size in mm and inches on its page, so you can picture it before it comes.
  • A US quarter is 24 mm across: hold one up and you'll see the medal's size.
  • Chains: 24 in (60 cm) sits on a man's chest under his collar; 18 in (45 cm) sits at a woman's collarbone.
  • Bracelets: wrap a strip of paper around his wrist while he watches TV, mark it and measure it flat. Most men are 7-8 in (17-20 cm); most women are 6-7 in (15-18 cm).
  • Not the right size when it comes? Send us a photo within 30 days and we refund you. You don't send it back.

Find his size →

The St Benedict medal in polished steel on its chain, cross side upSt Benedict Medal Necklace
Add to cart · $39