I love the Anima Christi prayer. I get lost in the words, the images and the feelings. Each of the phrases and invocations touch me deeply each time I pray it. There is something ancient and steadfast about this prayer yet fresh and raw, and it offers something personal for the one praying.
The Anima Christi (Soul of Christ) has been attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola (141-1556), but historians think that it predates him by more than a century. It seems that St. Ignatius mistakenly got credit for the prayer because he popularized it when he added it to the opening prayer of his Spiritual Exercises. This sacred prayer is sublime and seems to transcend all time, all centuries.
Spend some time with Anima Christi. Let the words sink into you and awaken in you a deeper and more passionate love for Jesus.
Anima Christi
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 your wounds, hide me.
Let me never be separated from you.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
In the hour of my death, call me,
And bid me come to you,
That with your saints I may praise you
Forever and ever. Amen.
