Description
Pope Benedict XIV solemnly approved and recommended the use of the medal to the faithful in 1742.
St. Benedict of Nursia, Italy (480-543), the twin brother of St. Scholastica, is the Father of Western Monasticism. His Rule came to be the basis of organization for many religious orders, including the Franciscans and Dominicans.
The medal in current use is the Jubilee medal designed by the monk Desiderius Lenz, of the Beuron Art School. He designed it in 1880 for the 1400th anniversary of the birth of St. Benedict under the supervision of the prior of Montecassino, Very Rev. Boniface Krug (1838-1909) of Monte Cassino, Italy. Monte Cassino was given the exclusive right to strike this medal, with which special Jubilee indulgences were attached. The Jubilee Medal was first produced at St. Martin’s Archabbey, Beuron, Germany, at the request of Prior Boniface who was a native of Baltimore and originally a monk of St. Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, until he was chosen to become prior and latter archabbot of Monte Cassino.
Once struck in Germany, the medals spread over Europe and the world. They were first approved by Benedict XIV in his briefs of Dec. 23, 1741 and March 12, 1742.
