Vade Retro Satana: The Story
Four words of Latin. Begone, Satan.
What does Vade Retro Satana mean?
It is Latin for "Get behind me, Satan," or more simply, "Begone, Satan." It is not a curse and it is not a spell. It is a command, the kind you give when you already know who wins.
Where it comes from
The words go back to Jesus himself. When Peter tried to talk Him out of the cross, Jesus turned and said, "Get thee behind me, Satan" (Mark 8:33). In the Latin Vulgate that line reads vade retro me, Satana. In the desert, when the devil offered Him every kingdom in the world, He answered the same way: "Get thee hence, Satan" (Matthew 4:10). No debate. No negotiation. Just go.
The prayer of St. Benedict
Centuries later the words became part of one of the oldest sacramentals in the Church, the St. Benedict medal. Benedict of Nursia (around 480 to 547) is the father of Western monks. The story goes that some monks who resented his strict rule tried to poison him. Benedict made the sign of the cross over the cup, and it shattered. The medal carries a prayer against evil in the first letters of each word around its edge. The earliest known record of the full text is a manuscript from 1415.
Crux sacra sit mihi lux
Non draco sit mihi dux
Vade retro Satana
Nunquam suade mihi vana
Sunt mala quae libas
Ipse venena bibas
May the holy cross be my light. Let not the dragon be my guide. Begone, Satan. Never tempt me with your vanities. What you offer me is evil. Drink the poison yourself.
The design
VADE RETRO SATANA stacked big on the chest in tall white serif, nothing else competing with it. On the back, the full prayer of St. Benedict, all six lines, the way it rings the edge of the medal. A small cross sits at the collar. The dad hat carries the same words on the front and a white cross on the back.
Can anyone pray it?
Yes. The St. Benedict prayer is Catholic in origin, but the words come straight from the Gospels, and any Christian can say them. Say it when temptation shows up. Say it when the thoughts get loud. Say it out loud if you have to.
The pieces
The Vade Retro Satana tee, heavyweight black with the words on the front and the full Latin on the back ($44), and the Vade Retro dad hat in black ($44). The tee dropped alongside the Infinite Underground single on Holy Laratta Records.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”James 4:7Shop Vade Retro