Anima Christi sanctifica me. [Holy Communion.] The author of this hymn is unknown, and the earliest date to which it has been assigned is the 14th century. It is found in the very rare Heures a Lusage de Lengres. Imprimé a Troyes chez Jean le Coq, without year or pagination. It is also in the Hortulus Animate, Lyons, 1516; and 1519; Rambach, i. p. 360, and Daniel, i., No. 498.
In the last it is included among the hymns written by unknown authors, before the 16th century, and not inserted by authority in the Offices of any Breviary or Missal. Daniel also gives an additional intercession from the Lengres Hours, which has been ascribed to Ignatius do Loyola. As he was born in 1491, and did not embrace a religious life until 1521, this ascription is certainly an error.
Translations in common use:--
1. Prose translations of both forms as in Daniel are given in many Roman and Anglican books of devotion. Of the first form there is:—"Soul of Christ, sanctify me," in the Treasury of Devotion, 1869, p. 6; and of the second, with the same first line, in Shipley's Divine Liturgy, 4th ed., 1876, p. 1.
2. Soul of Jesus, make me holy. This is a metrical paraphrase and expansion of the original in 60 lines. It appeared anonymously in the Old Porch, April, 1855, and passed through the Lyra Eucharistica, 1863, p. 106, into a few Roman Catholic Collections for Schools and Missions, but usually in an abbreviated form. Given in the Irvingite Hymns for the Use of the Churches, 2nd ed., 1871, No. 301, as "Heart of Jesus, make me holy," and is there attributed to "J. W. Chadwick." Chadwick's, however, is the shorter form noted below. Another arrangement of this translation is, "Blood of Jesus; stream of life." No. 85 of Hymns for use at St. Ethelburga's, Bishopsgate, London, 1875.
3. Soul of Jesus, once for me. By M. Bridges. This is also a paraphrase of the original. It was published in his Hymns of the Heart, 1849, in 8 stanzas of 6 lines. It was included in Shipley's Divine Liturgy, 1862; Lyra Eucharistica, 1863, p. 171; and, reduced to 4 stanzas, in the People's Hymnal, 1867.
4. Soul of Jesus, make me pure. By J. W. Chadwick, published. in the People's Hymnal 1867, No. 558, in 2 stanzas of 6 lines.
5. Soul of Christ, my soul make pure. By E. A. Dayman, made for and 1st published in the Hymnary, 1872, No. 443, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. It is translated somewhat freely from the original.
6. Soul of Christ, be my satisfaction. Anon, in Card. Newman's Hymns for the Use of the Birmingham Oratory, 1875.
7. Soul of my Saviour, sanctify my breast, is in the St. George's Hymn Book, for use in St. George's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Southwark, 1882, No. 33, ed. by the Rev. Joseph Reeks.
8. Sanctify me wholly,Soul of Christ adored. By T. I. Ball. An imitation of the Latin, given in the 6th ed. of the Appendix to the Hymnal Noted, 1877, No. 358, in 3 stanzas of 4 lines. [Various contributors]
This hymn has also been rendered into German, and thence again into English:—
Die Seele Christi heil'ge mich. A free translation in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, by Johann Scheffler. No 53, in Bk. ii., 1657, of his Heilige Seelenlust, p. 169 (Werke, 1862, i. p. 106). Included as No. 80 in Freylinghausen’s Gesang-Buch, 1704, and recently as No. 222 in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder, ed. 1863. The only translation in common use is "Thy Soul, O Jesus! hallow me," good and full, by M. Loy, as No. 231 in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880.
The other translations have much in common, (l) "Thy Soul, my Jesu! hallow mine," in the Supplement to German Psalmody, ed. 1765, p. 25, and Select Hymns from German Psalmody, Tranquebar, 1754, p. 34. (2) "Jesu, Thy soul renew my own," in the Wesley Psalms and Hymns, 1741 (Poetical Works 1868-72, vol. ii. p. 15). (3) "The Soul of Christ me sanctify," as No. 136 in the Moravian Hymn Book, 1742. In 1789 altered to "Lord Jesus, sanctify Thou me," and repeated thus in later editions. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
=========================
Anima Christi sanctifica me, p. 70, i. This is found in a manuscript in the Bodleian, Bodl. 113, (at f. 12 b.), circa 1399, in a hand of the first half of the 15th century. E. A. Dayman's translation (No. 5) should read "Spirit of Christ, &c"; and No. 6 is 1862 and reads "Soul. ..my sanctification."
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files
