30 Ignatius of Loyola Quotes

Ignatius of Loyola quotes

1. Let 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.

2. The 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.

3. The 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.

4. Imagine 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.

5. The 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.

6. We should always be prepared so as never to err to believe that what I see as white is black, if the hierarchic Church defines it thus.

7. Considering that the blessed life we so long for consists in an intimate and true love of God Our Creator and Lord, which binds and obliges us all to a sincere love.

8. So with that will prompt and prepared to serve all those whom I perceive to be servants of my Lord, I will speak of three things with simplicity and love as if I were speaking to my own soul.

9. The principal end both of my father and of myself in the conquest of India... has been the propagation of the holy Catholic faith.

10. Go forth and set the world on fire.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

1. Do not put faith in constant happiness, and fear most when all smiles upon you.

2. One must wage war against his predominant passion and not retreat until, with God's help, he has been victorious.

3. If our church is not marked by caring for the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, we are guilty of heresy.

4. God freely created us so that we might know, love, and serve him in this life and be happy with him forever. God's purpose in creating us is to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth, so that we may attain our goal of everlasting happiness with him in heaven.

5. Idleness is hells fishhook for catching souls.

6. If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He certainly intends to make you a saint.

7. But some most worthless persons are in the habit of carrying about the name of Jesus Christ in wicked guile, while yet they practice things unworthy of God, and hold opinions contrary to the doctrine of Christ, to their own destruction, and that of those who give credit to them, whom you must avoid as ye would wild beasts.

8. Receive, Lord, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will.

9. The acknowledgment of and gratitude for favors and gifts received is loved and esteemed in Heaven and on earth.

10. The glory of God is humankind fully alive.

11. God gives each one of us sufficient grace ever to know His holy will, and to do it fully.

12. All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know him better, love him more surely, and serve him more faithfully.

13. Truth always ends by victory; it is not unassailable, but invincible.

14. A religious ought to dread more being afraid of poverty than experiencing it.

15. It is not the finest wood that feeds the fire of Divine love, but the wood of the Cross.

16. If you attach your heart to certain places and occupations, obedience oftentimes places you in some other place that you may not like; to be always cheerful, be always humble and obedient.

17. He who is devout to the Virgin Mother will certainly never be lost.

18. Just as the commander of an army pitches his camp, studies the strength and defenses of a fortress, and then attacks it on its weakest side, in like manner, the enemy of our human nature studies from all sides our theological, cardinal, and moral virtues. Wherever he finds us weakest and most in need regarding our eternal salvation, he attacks and tries to take us by storm.

19. If one fears men much he will never do anything great for God: all that one does for God arouses persecution.

20. He who has heard the Word of God can bear his silences.