A New Piece of Armor

I think I have posted this before, but these 3 verses are from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians: " Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:11-13). These verses are just the beginning of a 10-verse discourse that St. Paul writes about protecting yourself from the workings of the enemy. It's long and if you get me explaining exactly what St. Paul is talking about in all of the other verses, well, I'll never get to the point of this post. 

So, since I got my first tattoo in February 2010, I've been saying that if I hit 6 months cut-free, I would get another tattoo. And a big one. Well, I hit 6 months about a week ago and on Monday, I got my "newest piece of armor." I got the Benedictine medal tattooed on my right shoulder blade. For those of you who don't know what a Benedictine medal is, it's looks like this: 

Each of the letters are the beginning of a word in Latin of a very powerful prayer. It's a prayer of exorcism and protection. Here's a translation: On the arms of the cross are the initial letters of a rhythmic Latin prayer: Crux sacra sit mihi lux! Nunquam draco sit mihi dux! (May the holy cross be my light! May the dragon never be my guide!). In the angles of the cross, the letters C S P B stand for Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti (The cross of our holy father Benedict). Above the cross is the word pax (peace), that has been a Benedictine motto for centuries. Around the margin of the back of the medal, the letters V R S N S M V - S M Q L I V B are the initial letters, as mentioned above, of a Latin prayer of exorcism against Satan: Vade retro Satana! Nunquam suade mihi vana! Sunt mala quae libas. Ipse venena bibas! (Begone Satan! Never tempt me with your vanities! What you offer me is evil. Drink the poison yourself!)

Technically, I am a walking exorcism prayer. Hahahaha. But in all seriousness, I got this as a reminder to me that the Lord will always protect me and that He won the battle a long time ago on Calvary. Satan will tempt me and try to get me back in his grasp, but I have a powerful prayer permanently on me. I got it on my right shoulder blade because I am right handed and I would always cut with my right hand. It's kind of a stupid reason, but yeah. 

My tattoo artist did an amazing job. It took 2 1/2 hours of a hell of a lot of pain, but it was completely worth it. At this point, this is the best picture I've got of it. I'll post a picture once it's healed.