Anima Christi

One of my favorite prayers that is said during every Mass at St. Teresa’s Catholic Church just after Communion is the 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; separated from you let me never be; From the evil one protect me; at the hour of my death, call me; and close to you bid me; That with your saints, I may be, Praising you forever and ever. Amen

I know many of my readers are familiar with this prayer because they too belong to St. Teresa’s Church. If you are not one of them, read it over a few times slowly and try to just take it in.

I’ve always thought this prayer could be studied and contemplated for a wonderful and insightful look at Christ and the Faith. I think each line could stand alone as its own prayer.

I would like to share my favorite lines of the prayer and then hope to hear from you what your favorite lines are and why.

The lines that stand out for me are: Within your wounds, hide me; Separated from you let me never be. The first, Within your wounds, hide me; feels so soothing, I think of it as a soft warm balmy place where I enter into the body of Christ. It is a place of safety for me and this is very comforting. It makes me feel like Christ has a special place just for me where I can escape to stay and be happy.

I have often gone to church and placed myself, in my mind, in the palms of Christ’s hands. His hands, cupped together, hold me and I again feel safe. This is similar to hiding in the wound of Christ. It is a wonderful place to be.

The other line I am most drawn to is, Separated from you let me never be. This really is one of those lines that can stand alone! I could say it all day as an aspiration to Christ. I think I’ll leave it at that and hope to hear from you as to what you feel especially drawn to in this prayer and why!!