A shield bearing a cross, surrounded by stained glass. This image gives visible form to the request for refuge and preservation in the face of conflict.
Reading the symbolism
Julio describes a cross on a shield, placed in a stained-glass window. The shield’s form makes the idea of defense immediately clear. The inscription asks both for salvation and gathering, giving this protection a collective dimension.
Salvos nos fac, Domine Deus noster, et congrega nos de nationibus
Save us, Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations.
The attributed effects
Julio’s application concerns wartime devastation, battlefields, civil unrest, and the unity of the homeland. These attributions belong to the book’s historical context. The pantacle is presented here as an object of devotion; it offers no demonstrated physical protection against violence.
Julio’s use
The work’s practical notes place this sign among the blessed and consecrated pantacles. Studying it may accompany a prayer for the preservation of people and collective peace. The notice does not justify using the sign to expose anyone to danger.
A personal reading
For personal reflection, start with the verb “gather”: it invites you to view protection as care extended to the people around you. This contemporary proposal remains distinct from the historical application to wartime situations.
The source and variants
The 1908 text also includes racial and colonial vocabulary that is rejected today. The collection indicates its context without reproducing this vocabulary as an instruction or as an Aeternum value.
Abbé Julio, The Secret Book of Great Exorcisms and Blessings, second edition, Vincennes, published by the author, 1908. Explanation and application no. 71, pp. 453–454. Plate no. 23 of the third volume. The practical notes on blessed and consecrated supports can be found on pp. 462–463.
Digitization: Divinity School Library, Duke University / Internet Archive.
