The Suscipe (“Receive”) is St. Ignatius of Loyola’s prayer of total self-offering: “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my intellect, and all my will.” It comes at the climax of his Spiritual Exercises, and Jesuits, religious and countless lay people have made it their own for five centuries. Below is the full text, its context, what each line means, and how to pray it.
The Suscipe prayer
From the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, in Father Elder Mullan’s translation (1914):
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my intellect, and all my will — all that I have and possess. Thou gavest it to me: to Thee, Lord, I return it! All is Thine, dispose of it according to all Thy will. Give me Thy love and grace, for this is enough for me.
Where the prayer comes from
St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), the Spanish soldier who became a saint and founded the Society of Jesus, wrote the Spiritual Exercises as a month-long retreat. The Suscipe closes the final meditation, the “Contemplation to Attain Love.” There Ignatius asks the retreatant to remember all the gifts God has given, to see how God dwells and works in every creature, and to respond “as one who makes an offering with much feeling,” giving back to God everything that is his. See the St. Ignatius of Loyola prayer and the daily examen.
What the prayer means
- “Take, Lord, and receive”: a gift freely given, not taken by force.
- Liberty, memory, intellect and will: Ignatius offers the deepest powers of the soul, the very things that make us free persons.
- “Thou gavest it to me: to Thee, Lord, I return it”: everything we have is already God’s gift.
- “Dispose of it according to all Thy will”: complete trust and availability.
- “Give me Thy love and grace, for this is enough for me”: the one thing we ask in return is God himself.
How to pray the Suscipe
- At the end of the day, after reviewing God’s gifts in the examen.
- At moments of decision, to make yourself free and available to God’s will.
- After Holy Communion, offering yourself in return for Christ’s gift of himself.
- At vows, ordinations and anniversaries, as a prayer of consecration.
Frequently asked questions
What does Suscipe mean?
“Receive,” the first word of the prayer in Latin: Suscipe, Domine, universam meam libertatem.
Who wrote the Suscipe?
St. Ignatius of Loyola, in his Spiritual Exercises (about 1522–1548).
Is the Suscipe the same as the Anima Christi?
No. The Anima Christi (“Soul of Christ”) is an older medieval prayer that Ignatius loved and recommends in the Spiritual Exercises; the Suscipe is his own prayer, at the end of the Exercises. See the Anima Christi.
More prayers of self-offering
- Prayer after Mass
- Morning Offering
- Anima Christi
- St. Ignatius of Loyola prayer
- Daily examen
- Total consecration to Mary
Texts and sources
- St. Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises, tr. Elder Mullan, S.J. (1914), public domain (archive.org).