Link Copied!
Ignatius of Loyola Quotes (1491-1556)
About Ignatius of Loyola
Saint Ignatius of Loyola (December 24, 1491 β July 31, 1556), also known as Ignacio (IΓ±igo) LΓ³pez de Loyola, was the principal founder and first Superior General of the Society of Jesus, a religious order of the Catholic Church professing direct service to the Pope in terms of mission. Members of the order are called Jesuits.
Best Ignatius of Loyola Quotes
Shortest
Earliest
Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful Ignatius of Loyola quotes.
βWe should always be prepared so as never to err to believe that what I see as white is black, if the hierarchical Church defines it thus.β
βLet me look at the foulness and ugliness of my body. Let me see myself as an ulcerous sore running with every horrible and disgusting poison.β
βThe picture. A great plain, comprising the entire Jerusalem district, where is the supreme Commander-in-Chief of the forces of good, Christ our Lord: another plain near Babylon, where Lucifer is, at the head of the enemy.β
βUp to his twenty-sixth year the heart of Ignatius was enthralled by the vanities of the world. His special delight was in the military life, and he seemed led by a strong and empty desire of gaining for himself a great name.β
βTake, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, All I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.β
βImagine that leader of all the enemy, in that great plain of Babylon, sitting on a sort of throne of smoking flame, a horrible and terrifying sight. Watch him calling together countless devils, to despatch them into different cities till the whole world is covered, forgetting no province or locality, no class or single individual.β
βThe enemy is like a woman, weak in face of opposition, but correspondingly strong when not opposed. In a quarrel with a man, it is natural for a woman to lose heart and run away when he faces up to her; on the other hand, if the man begins to be afraid and to give ground, her rage, vindictiveness and fury overflow and know no limit.β
βThe safest and most suitable form of penance seems to be that which causes pain in the flesh but does not penetrate to the bones, that is, which causes suffering but not sickness. So the best way seems to be to scourge oneself with thin cords which hurt superficially, rather than to use some other means which might produce serious internal injury.β
Ignatius of Loyola Quotes by Topic
Find exactly what you are looking for by browsing this categorized list of Ignatius of Loyola quotes by topic.
Ignatius of Loyola on Ideas
βA person with imprecise ideas can understand little and be of less help to others.β
Quotes About Ignatius of Loyola
Gain deeper perspective through quotes about Ignatius of Loyola from others.
Pope Francis on Ignatius of Loyola
βIgnatius, for understandable reasons, is the saint I know better than any other. He founded our Order. β¦ Jesuits were and still are the leavening β not the only one but perhaps the most effective β of Catholicism: culture, teaching, missionary work, loyalty to the Pope. But Ignatius who founded the Society, was also a reformer and a mystic. Especially a mystic. β¦ They have been fundamental. A religion without mystics is a philosophy. β¦ I love the mystics; Francis also was in many aspects of his life, but I do not think I have the vocation and then we must understand the deep meaning of that word. The mystic manages to strip himself of action, of facts, objectives and even the pastoral mission and rises until he reaches communion with the Beatitudes. Brief moments but which fill an entire life.β
Joseph de Maistre on Ignatius of Loyola
β[Friends of order]Β are often heard to say that the Jesuits must be reestablished. Without disputing the merits of this order, one must say that this suggestion for their reestablishment indicates a lack of deep reflection. Do they mean that St Ignatius is at hand ready to serve our purposes? If the order were destroyed, perhaps it could be reestablished by some lay brother with the same inspiration that created it originally, but all the sovereigns in the world would never succeed.β
Malachi Martin on Ignatius of Loyola
βOut of this crucible of trial, self-examination, and anguished yearning for peace and light there emerged in IΓ±igo de Loyola that balance of spirit and matter, of mind and body, of mystical contemplation and pragmatic action that has ever since been recognized as typically and specifically "Ignatian," as distinct from the spirituality of, say, St. Benedict or St. Dominic or St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila.β
From an interview of Eugenio Scalfari on Ignatius of Loyola
βHe said it himself, he sinned long and hard, to quote Luther; his conversion was total, his expiation very long, accompanied by a love of life and works, including the foundation of a Company that after 400 years is still one of the pillars of our Church.β
Bertrand Russell on Ignatius of Loyola
βProtestant success, at first amazingly rapid, was checked mainly as a resultant of Loyola's creation of the Jesuit order.β
Disputed Quotes
Quotes attributed to Ignatius of Loyola that are questionable.
About Ignatius of Loyola
Saint Ignatius of Loyola (December 24, 1491 β July 31, 1556), also known as Ignacio (IΓ±igo) LΓ³pez de Loyola, was the principal founder and first Superior General of the Society of Jesus, a religious order of the Catholic Church professing direct service to the Pope in terms of mission. Members of the order are called Jesuits.