St Benedict, Psalm 34:14 Wall Art

How to recognize Saint Benedict

An old monk with a bald crown and a long white beard stands with his head bowed, dressed in the black hooded habit that gave the Benedictines their English nickname, the Black Monks. A small wooden cross hangs from a cord on his chest. In his right hand is a tall wooden staff curled at the top like an abbot's crozier, and against his heart he holds a brown leather book stamped REGULA, Latin for “Rule”.

At his feet, a glossy black raven perches on a rock beside a broken stone pillar softened by moss, with a few wild plants around the base. The whole figure is painted in charcoal and slate washes, with only the book, the staff and the sandals in warm brown. Above him: “Seek peace, and pursue it”, with Psalm 34:14.

Why this verse for Saint Benedict?

The complete line in the King James Version reads: “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” Psalm 34 is headed as a psalm of David from the time he escaped a Philistine king by pretending to be mad, and its lines run in alphabetical order through the Hebrew letters, a memory aid for those who sang it. Verses 12 to 14 ask who wants a long and good life, then answer with plain advice: guard your tongue, turn from evil, and go after peace as if it were running away from you.

Benedict of Nursia, who lived around 480 to 547 in central Italy, quoted exactly this passage in the Prologue of his Rule for monks, imagining the Lord calling out to a crowd for a workman willing to seek peace. That is why the Benedictine family still takes Pax, peace, as its motto. The same verses are quoted again in the First Letter of Peter, chapter 3.

The raven comes from the life of Benedict written by Pope Gregory the Great: a jealous priest sent him a poisoned loaf, and Benedict ordered a raven that he fed each day to carry it away where no one could eat it.

A gift for him

Saint Benedict is the patron of Europe, of monks and of many schools and parishes that bear his name, and his medal is one of the most widely worn Catholic sacramentals. This print suits a man named Benedict or Ben, an oblate of a Benedictine monastery, or anyone who needs a calm, sober image for a study, a home office or a workbench wall.