Need help with understanding Anima Christi

[jesusmademe]

Can anyone please explain how Anima Christi was composed? I mean, how are we to understand the order of the different sentences of this prayer? Are there any kind of meaning behind the order? And what does the term Soul of Christ refer to?

 

[Francis]

Anima Christi

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Christ’s body is the bread of life essential for our Salvation, as He himself said in John’s Gospel (6:51-59). We receive Him in communion not as a symbol but truly as discussed
I may praise thee in “body, blood, soul and divinity," as is said at Mass.
Body of Christ, save me.

Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
The line about Christ’s blood, which we also receive in communion, brings to mind the account of the birth of the Church at Pentecost. Some people thought that Jesus’ disciples were “drunk on new wine” (Acts 2:13) as they proclaimed the wonderful works of God and were heard in languages other than their own. Yet the Spirit filling the disciples was Holy, not distilled!
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
The Anima Christi also reminds us of the moving Gospel account of our Lord’s Crucifixion in which “one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water” (John 19:34).We who were immersed in the water of baptism when we came into the faith are now immersed here in the water from His Passion to cleanse us of our sins!
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
Meditating on Christ’s Passion itself can strengthen our spirits when we think of how much He endured for our sake. Remember, He is always there to help us cope when we unite our sufferings with His on the cross for the forgiveness of sins and for our salvation.

Thinking of our Lord’s wounds along these lines reminds us that “with his stripes we are healed,” as the prophet Isaiah put it (Is 53:5).
O Good Jesus, hear me.

Within Thy wounds hide me.

Suffer me not to be separated from thee.
From the malignant enemy defend me.
As the Anima Christi continues, we ask Christ to keep us close to him. Being “separated” from Him could cost us His love and our salvation, making our souls an inviting target for Satan.This flows right into the line about the “malignant enemy,” which brings to mind that verse in the “deliver us from evil,” where we ask God to keep us safe from the clutches of the Evil One!
In the hour of my death call me.
Along this line, the reference to “the hour of my death” points out how important it is for us to persevere in prayer and good works in order to reach Heaven. Just as no one knows the day or the hour of Christ’s Second Coming, neither do we know our day or hour when we will pass away.

And bid me come unto Thee,
That with all Thy saints,
Will Jesus say to us at that point “Come, blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you” (Matt 25:34) or, tragically, “I never knew you: depart from me” (Matt 7: 23)? The Anima Christi can help us stay focused on attaining Eternal Life in a world filled with not-so-divine distractions.

Forever and ever.
St. Paul has said of Heaven “Eye has not seen nor ear heard…what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). Can you imagine anything sweeter than being in the company of our Lord and His saints “forever and ever”? May we all be in Heaven with Him to sing His praises for all Eternity!

Amen.

 

[Mintaka]

I’ll start with the last question first.

Christ has a human soul, just as He has a human body. Haven’t you ever heard the explanation of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, where it is described as His “Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity”?

You can’t be human without having a human soul. Jesus is not just true God, but also true Man.

UPDATE – Francis seems to have covered a lot!

We don’t really know much about the composition of the “Anima Christi,” although there are a fair number of different attributions. It follows a pretty standard literary pattern found in Latin, although it also fits pretty nicely with the way that Irish, Scottish, and Welsh poets composed prayers. It is often associated with St. Ignatius of Loyola although it predates him by several hundred years; and yes, his Basque folks also used that kind of format. So basically, anybody could have come up with it, and lots of people have liked it.

It was around in 1330, when it was made an indulgenced prayer. So yeah, pretty old.

 

[Francis]

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p122a4p3.ht

[624] “By the grace of God” Jesus tasted death “for every one”.459 In his plan of salvation, God ordained that his Son should not only "die for our sins"460 but should also “taste death”, experience the condition of death, the separation of his soul from his body, between the time he expired on the cross and the time he was raised from the dead. The state of the dead Christ is the mystery of the tomb and the descent into hell. It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb,461 reveals God’s great sabbath rest462 after the fulfillment463 of man’s salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe.464

Christ in the tomb in his body

625 Christ’s stay in the tomb constitutes the real link between his possible state before Easter and his glorious and risen state today. The same person of the “Living One” can say, “I died, and behold I am alive for evermore”:465

God [the Son] did not impede death from separating his soul from his body according to the necessary order of nature, but has reunited them to one another in the Resurrection, so that he himself might be, in his person, the meeting point for death and life , by arresting in himself the decomposition of nature produced by death and so becoming the source of reunion for the separated parts.466

[626] Since the “Author of life” who was killed 467 is the same “living one [who has] risen”,468 the divine person of the Son of God necessarily continued to possess his human soul and body, separated from each other by death:

By the fact that at Christ’s death his soul was separated from his flesh, his one person is not itself divided into two persons; for the human body and soul of Christ have existed in the same way from the beginning of his earthly existence, in the divine person of the Word; and in death, although separated from each other, both remained with one and the same person of the Word.469

"You will not let your Holy One see corruption"

[627] Christ’s death was a real death in that it put an end to his earthly human existence. But because of the union which the person of the Son retained with his body, his was not a mortal corpse like others, for "it was not possible for death to hold him"470 and therefore "divine power preserved Christ’s body from corruption."471 Both of these statements can be said of Christ: “He was cut off out of the land of the living”,472 and "My flesh will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption."473 Jesus’ Resurrection “on the third day” was the sign of this, also because bodily decay was held to begin on the fourth day after death.474

"Buried with Christ. . ."

[628] Baptism, the original and full sign of which is immersion, efficaciously signifies the descent into the tomb by the Christian who dies to sin with Christ in order to live a new life. "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."475

 

[jesusmademe]

Within Thy wounds hide me .

What does this mean?
How do people enter into Christ’s wounds?
I cant imagine anyone ever believing that one enters into a human body. That would not work at all.

 

[jesusmademe]

O Good Jesus, hear me.

Within Thy wounds hide me .

Is it important that these two sentences come in this order? Why not have it like this???:
Within Thy wounds hide me .
O Good Jesus, hear me.

 

[Fauken]

What does this mean?
How do people enter into Christ’s wounds?

What did Thomas do when he doubted Christ was resurrected?

 

[jesusmademe]

Touch but never enter. So we wasnt fully withing the wounds.

 

[goout]

Francis:

Within Thy wounds hide me .

What does this mean?
How do people enter into Christ’s wounds?
I cant imagine anyone ever believing that one enters into a human body. That would not work at all.

Think of the word “participation”. The verse points to a mystical participation in Christ’s passion.

We are wounded people. Wounded by sin and the sin of others. Christ takes all of that on himself. And he is innocent of sin. So his wounds are abundantly sufficient to cover all of our sins and troubles. In this sense, we can be completely sheltered in the grace that flows out of Christ’s participation in our wounds.

 

[Fauken]

Touch but never enter. So we wasnt fully withing the wounds.

John 20:27-28:

“20:27 Then he said to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither and see my hands. And bring hither the hand and put it into my side. And be not faithless, but believing.
20:28 Thomas answered and said to him: My Lord and my God.”

 

[jesusmademe]

You see the first part refering to a physical thing, ie Communion at Mass, and the second part refering something spiritual?

 

[goout]

You see the first part refering to a physical thing, ie Communion at Mass, and the second part refering something spiritual?

No not necessarily,.
The Anima Christi is a devotional, not meant as a statement of doctrines. So you are allowed to employ your intellect and imagination when you are praying it.

 

[Mary888]

I read this was a popular prayer that Ignacio de Loyola collected. So being a vernacular prayer its origin and composition is unknown.

 

[jesusmademe]

I really dont have the imagination of a medieval Catholic. How did those people look at “within thy wounds”? Where would such a language come from? It just confuses me.
How would a person enter into another person’s body. I rember hearing about people sleeping in dead animals eg a horse but I cant verify it. This would never happen with a human body. You could enter a big animal and hide but never a human (especially not through a wound)
I mean, the language used here isnt exactly an easy one for me.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Hiding yourself in Christ’s wounds is a popular motif. It’s in the St Bridget Prayers as well, which are also medieval.

I just see it as wanting to be really close to Christ and protected by Him. It’s like poetry. You’re not supposed to take it all so literally.

If it doesn’t appeal to you, you’re not required to pray these prayers.

As for the size of a person, Jesus is God. He could make himself huge and make me tiny so I could fit in his wounds.

 

[goout]

I really dont have the imagination of a medieval Catholic. How did those people look at “within thy wounds”? Where would such a language come from? It just confuses me.
How would a person enter into another person’s body. I rember hearing about people sleeping in dead animals eg a horse but I cant verify it. This would never happen with a human body. You could enter a big animal and hide but never a human (especially not through a wound)
I mean, the language used here isnt exactly an easy one for me.

We wouldn’t take these words in literalist fashion, obviously.

 

[Francis]

@jesusmademe

Within Thy wounds hide me .

It means when Jesus died the five wounds on his body namely his hands and feet and the heart as in John 19:34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.The heart of Jesus has opened the the portals of rays of divine light and Grace and of limitless Mercy, When the wrath of God’s divine Justice all men would have lost or perished Jesus as the Lord and Master shows mercy we have to take refuge in the heart of Jesus until the wrath of God the Divine Justice pass by at the end of our last breath .

To depend and rely on the mercy of God and be faithful till the end with Childlike Love and Trust in Him by worshiping Jesus in our hearts especial when we receive him in the Holy Eucharist at Communion _1 Peter 3:15 but in your hearts sanctify (Worship)Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you;_ We enter the body of Christ or he in us when we are unite our-self with him spirit as in 1 Corinthians 6:17 But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. and in the Holy Eucharist the deeper union and Communion during Mass

1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” healed from our unfaithfulness and sins

Malachi 4:“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.am repeating here We hide in the Heart or wounds of Jesus until the wrath of divine Justice pass by and present and reach heaven later when we lead our lives according to the commandments and a holy live . John 14:23 Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. The indwelling of God with our hearts and He in us

John 17: 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

 

[Francis]

@jesusmademe

O Good Jesus, hear me.

Yes, because all things are done in eternal order and in weight and measure as in Sirach 16:27 he arranged his works in an eternal order and their dominion for all generations.They neither hunger nor grow weary,and they do not abandon their tasks.1 Corinthians 14:40 but all things should be done decently and in order.Wisdom 11:20 Even apart from these, people could fall at a single breath when pursued by justice and scattered by the breath of your power.But you have arranged all things by measure and number and weight.

It is Thanksgiving and a plea, to beg and request for his mercy first, because we enter while we pray with Thanksgiving as said in Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,and his courts with praise.Give thanks to him, bless his name.and in Romans 9:15 For he says to Moses,“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

So we pray for God’s mercy ,like the tax collector ,In this case, Scripture and tradition. The heart is a powerful metaphor in the Bible, It signifies the wellspring of life, the totality of one’s being. The prophet Ezekiel, for instance, records God’s promise to change Israel’s from the “heart of stone” into a “heart of flesh,”Ezekiel 19 I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 36:26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. while John’s Gospel gives the heart its most profound scriptural expression: Jesus’ heart is the source of living water, of rest for the Beloved Disciple, of the church and its sacraments, of doubting Thomas’s faith.
John 7:38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”John 1:18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

 

[Francis]

@jesusmademe

You see the first part refering to a physical thing, ie Communion at Mass, and the second part refering something spiritual?

Yes well said in Communion at Mass John 6:53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Yes Spiritually united with Jesus as in **1 Cor 6 :17 But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.**Psalm 53:2 God looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Well the Heart of Jesus is big enough for it is said in Isaiah 66:1-2 **Thus says the Lord:Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool;what is the house that you would build for me,and what is my resting place?**2 All these things my hand has made,and so all these things are mine,says the Lord.But this is the one to whom I will look,to the humble and contrite in spirit,who trembles at my word.

The indwelling of God with in our hearts Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:**I dwell in the high and holy place,and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,**to revive the spirit of the humble,and to revive the heart of the contrite.

 

[Rob2]

n the early nineteenth century the prayer was translated and published as the English Hymn “Soul of my Saviour, Sanctify my breast”.

It was sung at my dad’s Funeral Mass as requested by my mum .