Vade retro satana

[A] The initials of this formula (VRSNSMV SMQLIVB or VRS:NSMV:SMQL:IVB) have often been engraved around crucifixes or the Saint Benedict Medals of Western Christianity since at least 1780.

[10] The passage came to general attention in 1647, when women who were prosecuted for witchcraft declared that they had been unable to do harm where there was a cross, and the St. Michael's Benedictine Abbey in Metten was particularly exempt from their influence.

The meaning of those letters remained a mystery for some time, until the complete verses were found in a manuscript dating to 1415 in the abbey's library,[11] next to an image of St. Benedict.

The formula received the approval of Pope Benedict XIV, becoming part of the Roman Ritual (the liturgical books detailing the offices a priest or deacon may perform) of the Catholic Church in 1742.

[13] The phrase vade retro satana is also used as a witty or scholarly prose device, dissociated from its religious implications, to express strong rejection of an unacceptable (but possibly tempting) proposal, or dread of some looming menace.

Abbreviation of the text of Vade retro satana (...V R S...) on the reverse of a Saint Benedict Medal
Image of Saint Benedict with a cross and a scroll stating Vade retro satana based on the last page of the 1415 book found in the library of Metten Abbey
Venerable Leo Dupont
Satan offers a cup to the Saint, who keeps him at bay. (Detail from the medieval Austrian manuscript Heinemann Nr 40 first published c. 1340 .)