Among my favorite prayers to pray during Holy Week is the Anima Christi or “Soul of Christ.” Many of the lines are resonant with Passion Week, as the poem reflects on Christ’s body and spirit. Among my favorite lines are those at the center: “Within your wounds hide me. / Permit me not to be separated from you.” In the Passion, God unites himself to us so that we are never alone in our own suffering. In the Passion, we find our shelter and “hiding place” in Christ.
About six years ago, I undertook the 19th Annotation version of the Spiritual Exercises (the Exercises in daily life). I remember praying imaginatively with the scene of Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane. Initially, I imagined myself among Jesus’ friends who waited outside the garden as he had asked. Suddenly, I realized that I did not want Jesus to be alone in his time of suffering, and so I ran to kneel next to him in the garden. I felt completely powerless to prevent his sorrow, suffering, and fear, but desperately wanted to be near to him in all that he was experiencing. I embraced him, wept with him, and held him, hoping to provide some comfort.
As I prayed, I discovered that my desire to be intimately with Jesus, and not to leave him alone in his time of need, was a mirror reflection of Jesus’ first choosing to be with me in my own suffering. God came to be a human being and to suffer so that we would never be alone in our own suffering, anxieties, fears, and sorrows. “Permit me not to be separated from you” are words that each one of us can pray to God because God said them to us first.
Jesus’ wounds also serve as a resting place for us. “Within your wounds hide me” speaks of uniting our own wounds to those of Jesus. By placing ourselves within his wounded side, hands, and feet, our own wounds become known, transformed, and healed. When I prayed with the image of Jesus being scourged, part of me desired to take a blow so that Jesus would not have to take so many. But Jesus was insistent that he cover me with his own body and take the suffering upon himself. We might want to shelter Jesus, but it is Jesus who takes on human suffering, and so shelters us from suffering and the consequences of sin.
Knowing that God comes to be with us in our suffering is also what allows us to go and to be with other people in theirs. We cannot always alleviate others’ pain by removing it from them, but we can faithfully remain present to them so that they are not alone. What Jesus does for us becomes mirrored in what we can then go out and do for others. What we receive in love, we can then go on to give.
Image: Geertgen tot Sint Jans, “Christ as Man of Sorrows.”
My sacred space prayer in the uk comments is reflected as consolation making it so close to marina’s that it emphasises that we are all one in Christ. The Anima Christi binds us together in Him the beloved who shows us the Way in truth. This casts out our darkness and shines forth into the Light of everlasting life.
I am trying to develop additional prayers for my wife, Carol, to include with a Novena to St. Joseph. My wife is 80 years young, we will be married 60 years on 4/11/24! I am going to include the Anima Christi as one of the most prayers that we will be able to say to help her handle “the daily crosses of pain caused by arthritis.” Her tender body is riddled with arthritis and some days, her prayer of “Take me Lord,” is the only thing she wants to say. A Miracle of relieving pain is being prayed for. Thank you for your contribution to my journey of hope.
Herbert, I’m adding Carol to my prayers for her complete healing. God is good all the time. Blessings.
The Anima Christi is my favorite prayer since high school. It gives a rhythm to my life and a constant reminder that Christ is with me. The benign secularism is so prevalent in so many wonderful people. This groups just keeps the Holy Spirit out of the equation. I pray for those infected by ‘benign secularism’ everyday so they can realize the power and love of our God. When I moved from the suburbs into the city I was truly an expert at consumerism, now I think/feel less and less about material possessions and try to concentrate on what I can do for others. It is liberating and truly gives me the time to discern what the Holy Spirit is directing me toward.
I introduced this prayer to the woman I sponsored for Baptism two nights ago and already she is responding to “Passion of Christ strengthen me”. Happy Easter.
Good morning, Marina,
I also love the Anima Christi and chose it for my closing prayer while going through the 19th annotation Spiritual Exercises. I started with the traditional prayer, which I relied on to put myself in Jesus’s care. As I come closer to completing the exercises I’ve come to love the more contemporary version., “Jesus, may everything that is you flow through me.” I shared the same experience with the Passion, sharing being close to Jesus, comforting him. I’ll bet we’re not alone either. By the way, loved your little book on forgiveness. It spurred me on to heal a wounded relationship. Thank you.
Thank you. What a lovely way to end the retreat. I’m glad to hear that you found the book to be healing of a relationship. Blessings!
Marina, thank you very much. The Anima Christi is one of my daily prayers as it expresses the deep desires of my heart. I linger over the words “Within thy wounds hide me.” And beg God with the line “Permit me not to be separated. From thee!” This prayer has accompanied me through many challenging times and I’m so grateful to St. Ignatius for giving it to us. Your reflection touched me deeply.
It’s a grace to have prayers that accompany us through different times in our lives, indeed.
Marina,
Thank you for your insightful reflection about suffering, sin and fear. I have always felt somewhat distant from the historical Jesus-too many “overwrites” by male “scholars” busily making Him into an male icon.
Your obvious affection and empathy to protect Him from harm inspires. Your words “By placing ourselves within his wounded side, hands, and feet, our own wounds become known, transformed, and healed” makes him more relatable as the inspiring-empathetic-gifted-God infused-human that he really must have been.
As someone who lives with chronic pain myself which does not “come and go”, knowing that such pain will be a companion for one’s remaining days can inspire fear and makes the story of Gethsemane more poignant and Jesus more inspiring, relatable and his message of love and compassionate listening more powerful for me . Thank you for your gifts and for sharing them. Happy Easter.
Rob
Thank you thank you thank you. How beautiful. The thought of Jesus alone in the garden has always bothered me so much. Your words so vividly bring me to the place in the garden where I can wait with him.
This image of Christ with his exposed wound on his side had served as the wallpaper of a Jesuit friend of mine. A long time ago, I visited him and he asked me what I feel every time I see his wallpaper. At a loss for words, I told him I feel that something has clawed into my side, reaped open the flesh and it’s sooooooo painful when iodine was applied into it.
How can I still hide in that wound when doing so would send him another wave of searing pain? But there He is ready to welcome me in His wound, to protect me from the devil, and give me strength when I fall.
I initially found the Anima Christi through the Spiritual Exercises a year ago and it has resonated with me ever since. Similar to Ms. McCoy, the verse of ‘Within your wounds hide me. Permit me not to be separated from you.’ speaks volumes of Christ’s Love for us and He being there for us. The heart becomes inflamed within me each time I say it and I say it several times a day, along with others. Thank you Ms. McCoy for your inspirational thoughts.
For many years I have often felt drawn to Jesus Agony in the Garden. Each time praying the Sorrowful Mysteries I felt that way. Sometimes lingered there wanting to stay with Jesus. I as yourself imagined holding Jesus, letting Him know He wasn’t alone. It was comforting to read you also feel the same. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts
You are a good story teller and writer. You’re gifted with imaginative prayer and able to share this gift. Thank you. The Anima Christi resonates with me. Like you, I experience each thought as I pray it. I envision Jesus and me becoming one as I receive Christ in the Eucharist and the prayer is my reality.
Thank you so much for this sharing of hearts and love of Christ.
The Anima Christi is my hands-down favorite prayer, chillingly graphic while teeming with passion. I thank you for sharing your meditation on the Agony in the Garden. I have always thought of this as a time when Jesus fully understood the annihilation anxiety that we all must contend with. Thus sweating blood, facing certain death, while his friends slept. A good time to extend companionship, as the spirit prompted you to do.
Sufferings come and sufferings go. May the Lord be with us in times good and not so good.
The line that most grabs me is that we are never alone in our suffering I, too, have loved this prayer for a very long time. You have given it another dimension and depth for me.
Thank you!
Loved your reflection. Speaks into my life right now.
I love your reflection. This prayer is a favorite of mine. Thank you for your meaningful words.
Mary Day
Many thanks for this.I am doing the 19th Annotation at present although praying imaginatively does not always come easily to me. However your last paragraph gave me comfort as I learned this morning that an old friend had been diagnosed with bowel cancer; hard enough in itself but at the age of 84 he is sole carer for his wife who has dementia. I am called to “give in love” what God has given to me. Thank you.