The Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic
1907–1914
“This well-known prayer dates its origin from the first half of the fourteenth century and was enriched with indulgences by Pope John XXII in the year 1330.”
Prayer to Christ
Anima Christi — Soul of Christ
The beloved medieval prayer to the wounded Christ — of the first half of the fourteenth century, indulgenced in 1330 — long and wrongly credited to St. Ignatius, who loved it and set it at the head of his Spiritual Exercises.
The prayer
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.
Where it comes from
The dated sources the library holds, oldest first — in their own words.
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1,330
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1,548
St. Ignatius places it at the head of the Exercises
St. Ignatius Loyola sets the Anima Christi at the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises (printed 1548) and returns to it again and again — which is why the prayer came to bear his name, though it was already some two centuries old when he was born.
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1,913
The Catholic Encyclopedia Catholic1907–1914
“The Anima Christi was and is still generally believed to have been composed by St. Ignatius Loyola, as he puts it at the beginning of his "Spiritual Exercises" and often refers to it. This is a mistake, as has been pointed out by many writers, since the prayer has been found in a number of prayer books printed during the youth of the saint and is in manuscripts which were written a hundred years before his birth (1491).”