Anima Christi
The Anima Christi is a Catholic prayer to Jesus; it is of medieval origin.
The sequence of sentences in the Anima Christi have rich associations with Catholic concepts that relate to the Eucharist (Body and Blood of Christ), Baptism (water) and the Passion of Jesus (Holy Wounds).
Jean-Baptiste Lully composed a motet called Anima Christi, and musicians such as Giovanni Valentini have performed it. Marco Frisina, an Italian Catholic priest, also composed a musical setting of the prayer, included in his 2000 album Pane di vita nuova.
As it was once mistakenly attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola, who included it in his Spiritual Exercises, it is sometimes referred to as the Aspirations of St. Ignatius Loyola.
Modern Translation
In the early nineteenth century the prayer was translated and published as the English Hymn "Soul of my Saviour, Sanctify my breast" by Edward Caswall. Since then it has been popular as a communion hymn in Catholic communities and has been included in some 43 different hymnals.
This well known Catholic prayer dates to the early fourteenth century and was possibly written by Pope John XXII, but its authorship remains uncertain. The prayer takes its name from its Latin incipit, meaning "Soul of Christ". The Anima Christi was popularly believed to have been composed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, as he puts it at the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises and often refers to it. However, it has been found in a number of prayer books printed during Ignatius' youth and is in manuscripts which were written a hundred years before his birth. James Mearns, the English hymnologist, found it in a manuscript of the British Museum which dates back to c. 1370. In the library of Avignon there is preserved a prayer book of Cardinal Peter De Luxembourg, who died in 1387, which contains Anima Christi in practically the same form as we have it today. It has also been found inscribed on one of the gates of the Alcázar of Seville, which dates back to the time of Pedro the Cruel (1350–69).
...
Wikipedia