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 Thy wounds hide me. Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.
From the malicious enemy defend me. In the hour of my death call me, and bid me come unto Thee, that with Thy saints I may praise Thee for ever and ever. Amen.
About this prayer
Anima Christi is Latin for “Soul of Christ,” and the prayer’s origins predate St. Ignatius of Loyola, though he made it famous by placing it at the start of his Spiritual Exercises. It is a prayer of total surrender, asking Christ, piece by piece, body, blood, wounds, Passion, to take hold of the one praying.
It’s traditionally prayed after receiving Holy Communion, as a way of staying present to what has just happened rather than rushing back into the day.
When to pray it
Most fittingly right after Communion, in the quiet minutes before Mass ends. It also holds up well as a nightly prayer, or in any moment where you want to ask, plainly, to not be separated from Christ.