What is the Anima Christi?
The Anima Christi — 'Soul of Christ' — is a medieval prayer in which the soul addresses each of the wounds and gifts of Our Lord in turn: His Soul, His Body, His Blood, His water, His Passion. It is one of the most ancient and beloved Eucharistic prayers in the Western tradition, asking Christ to sanctify, save, and inebriate the soul of the one who prays.
Did St. Ignatius of Loyola write the Anima Christi?
No — the prayer dates from the fourteenth century, some two hundred years before St. Ignatius. He did, however, do more than anyone else to popularize it: the Anima Christi appears at the very opening of his Spiritual Exercises, and through that book it has been prayed by Jesuits and retreatants for nearly five centuries. The early manuscripts attribute the prayer to no particular author.
When should the Anima Christi be prayed?
The Anima Christi is most fittingly prayed in thanksgiving after Holy Communion, when the Eucharistic Lord is sacramentally present within the communicant. It is also a beautiful prayer for Eucharistic Adoration, for the Stations of the Cross, and for any moment of contemplation on the Passion of Our Lord.
What does 'inebria me' mean?
Inebria me — 'inebriate me' — is among the prayer's boldest petitions: 'O Blood of Christ, inebriate me.' The image is drawn from the Old Testament psalms, where the inebriating cup of God's love overwhelms the soul. The faithful do not ask to be drunk in the worldly sense, but to be utterly overcome — every faculty saturated, every thought captured — by the love of Christ.
