We need Our Lord’s comfort, strength, protection, and guidance as we make our pilgrim way through this world to our heavenly home.
The Anima Christi is frequently prayed after receiving Holy Communion. What a wonderful time to pray it! It gives us a blessed opportunity to pray and reflect on the great Gift we have just received.
“The devotion to the Eucharist is the most noble because it has God as its object; it is the most profitable for salvation, because It gives us the Author of Grace; it is the sweetest, because the Lord is Sweetness Itself” (St. Pius X).
One day St. Teresa of Avila heard someone say: “If only I had lived at the time of Jesus… If only I had seen Jesus… If only I had talked with Jesus…” She responded: “But do we not have in the Eucharist the living, true and real Jesus present before us? Why look for more?”
We invite you to become familiar with the Anima Christi. It’s a beautiful prayer you can pray anywhere, anytime!
What the Anima Christi Helps Us Pray
The Anima Christi gathers several needs of the Christian heart into one prayer: closeness to Christ, purification, healing, protection from evil, perseverance, and the grace to remain with him. Its petitions are brief enough to remember, yet rich enough to return to throughout life.
Because the prayer is directed so personally to Jesus, it can help when our own words are difficult to find. In anxiety, illness, temptation, grief, or an important decision, its familiar petitions turn attention away from fear and toward the Lord who is present.
When to Pray the Anima Christi
The traditional time is after receiving Holy Communion, during the quiet period of thanksgiving. It is also fitting during Eucharistic adoration, before a crucifix, after Mass, or whenever someone needs strength and protection.
Visit our Anima Christi prayer page to pray the complete text or keep a copy for personal use.