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Anima Christi

Soul of Christ

A tender prayer to our Lord in His Sacred Humanity, long beloved as a thanksgiving after Holy Communion.

Anima Christi, sanctifica me.
Corpus Christi, salva me.
Sanguis Christi, inebria me.
Aqua lateris Christi, lava me.
Passio Christi, conforta me.
O bone Iesu, exaudi me.
Intra tua vulnera absconde me.
Ne permittas me separari a te.
Ab hoste maligno defende me.
In hora mortis meae voca me.
Et iube me venire ad te,
ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te
in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within Thy wounds hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.
From the malignant enemy defend me.
In the hour of my death call me,
and bid me come to Thee,
that with Thy Saints I may praise Thee
for ever and ever. Amen.

Translation source: fisheaters.com/prayers.html

About this prayer

Anima Christi, "Soul of Christ," is a prayer of intimate devotion to our Lord present in His Sacred Humanity, begging to be sanctified, washed, and hidden within His wounds. It dates from the early fourteenth century, found in manuscripts before the year 1330, and was enriched with indulgences by Pope John XXII. Though once commonly attributed to Saint Ignatius of Loyola, it is in truth far older than he; yet he so loved it that he set it at the very front of his Spiritual Exercises and bade his sons begin their meditations with it, and through the Society of Jesus it spread through the whole Church.

The prayer moves through the mysteries of Christ's Passion, His Body and His Blood, the water and the blood from His pierced side, and His five wounds, asking that each become the soul's healing and refuge. It is prayed above all as a thanksgiving after Holy Communion, when the Lord is sacramentally present within the one who has received Him. It ends, as so many prayers of the Church do, by looking to the hour of death and to the praise of God among His Saints for ever.