Anima Christi, sanctifica me

Sanctify me wholly, Soul of Christ adored

The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal

Anima Christi, sanctifica me.
Corpus Christi, salva me.
Sanguis Christi, inebria me.
Aqua lateris Christi, lava me.
Passio Christi, conforta me.
O bone Jesu, exaudi me.
Intra tua vulnera absconde me.
Ne permittas me separari a te.
Ab hoste maligno defende me.
In hora mortis meæ voca me.
Et jube me venire ad te.
Ut cum sanctis tuis laudem te.
In sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Sanctify me wholly, Soul of Christ adored;
Be my sure Salvation, Body of the Lord:
Fill and satisfy me, O Thou Blood unpriced:
Wash me, Sacred Water, from the side of Christ.
Passion of my Saviour, be my strength in need:
Good and gracious Jesus, to my prayer give heed:
In Thy Wounds most precious let me refuge find:
All the power malignant of the foeman bind:
At deaths final hour, call me to Thy face:
Bid me stand beside Thee in the heavenly place:
There with Saints and Angels I shall sing to Thee
Through the countless ages of eternity.

Author: Unknown, 14^th cent. Translation by T. I. Ball. There are about fifteen translations in prose or verse. The Anima Christi has never been in liturgical use in the Church. It is, however, found in most Missals and Breviaries in the “Thanksgiving after Mass.” This beautiful prayer has been richly indulgenced for priests who recite it after Mass.

The Anima Christi is popularly believed to have been composed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, who places it at the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises, and frequently refers to it. But as the Anima Christi dates from 1330 or earlier, and St. Ignatius was born in 1491, it is impossible that he should have been the author of it. See the article on the Anima Christi in the Cath. Encycl. The popular metrical translation “Soul of my Savior sanctify my breast” dates from 1882; its author is not known.