Author Profile
Saint Ignatius
1491 – 1556 • Spanish • Saint
54
Total Quotes
Collected Meditations
Showing 54 quotesGod our Lord would have us look to the Giver and love Him more than His gift, keeping Him always before our eyes, in our hearts, and in our thoughts.— Saint Ignatius
We esteem, honor, and love the apostles more than the other saints, because they served God more faithfully and because they loved Him more perfectly.— Saint Ignatius
It is one thing to be eloquent and charming in profane speech, and another when the one speaking as a religious.— Saint Ignatius
We should not have a petty regard for God's gifts, though we may and should despise our own imperfections.— Saint Ignatius
Some indeed have tears naturally, when the higher motion of the soul makes itself felt in the lower, or because God our Lord, seeing that it would be good for them, allows them to melt into tears. But this does not mean that they have greater charity or that they are more effective than others who enjoy no tears.— Saint Ignatius
The principal end both of my father and of myself in the conquest of India... has been the propagation of the holy Catholic faith.— Saint Ignatius
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.— Saint Ignatius
If God has given you the world's goods in abundance, it is to help you gain those of Heaven and to be a good example of sound teaching to your sons, servants, and relatives.— Saint Ignatius
We should love the body insofar as it is obedient and helpful to the soul, since the soul, with the body's help and service, is better disposed for the service and praise of our Creator and Lord.— Saint Ignatius
He who aims at making an entire and perfect oblation of himself, in addition to his will, must offer his understanding, which is a further and the highest degree of obedience.— Saint Ignatius
Little by little he came to recognize the difference between the spirits that agitated him, one from the enemy and one from God.— Saint Ignatius
When Ignatius understood that God did not wish him to remain at Jerusalem, he began to consider what he should do. The plan he approved and adopted was to enter upon a course of study in order to be better fitted to save souls.— Saint Ignatius
Concerning the harsh treatment of the body for our Lord's sake, I would say, avoid anything that would cause the shedding even of a drop of blood.— Saint Ignatius
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.— Saint Ignatius
Experience proves that in this life peace and satisfaction are had, not by the listless but by those who are fervent in God's service. And rightly so. For in their effort to overcome themselves and to rid themselves of self-love, they rid themselves of the roots of all passion and unrest.— Saint Ignatius
If I cannot add to my own low level of understanding, I could ill afford to try to raise that of others, seeing that it belongs to our Creator and Lord to give much or little.— Saint Ignatius