Intra tua vulnera absconde me

I have fallen in love with a 14th-century Catholic poem/prayer called the Anima Christi.

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, comfort me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Your wounds, hide me
Do not allow me to be separated from You
From the evil enemy, defend me
In the hour of my death call me
and bid me come to You
That, with your Saints, I may praise You
forever and ever
Amen.

It’s a prayer associated with Ignatius of Loyola, who refers to it often in his book The Spiritual Exercises; but Ignatius didn’t write it. Apparently Pope Pius XII recited this prayer every morning after receiving Communion. In 2001 Ignatius Press published Anima Christi: Soul of Christ, a book by a Poor Clare nun that is basically an extended meditation on the prayer.

I think it’s a rare work of liturgical poetry: one that is deeply traditional, and yet works as a postmodern mystical prayer. The emphasis is not on repentance, or piety, or what miserable worms we humans are; but rather, it focuses on Christ as one who bestows grace and joy. Intra tua vulnera absconde me: Within your wounds, hide me. Abscond me into your vulnerability, o God. Here is a portal into the mysteries.

I’m not quite up there with Pius XII, i.e. making it to Mass every day and then reciting this prayer afterward. But it is a prayer I try to remember to say often.