Ignatius of Loyola

1491–1556 · Spanish priest, founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits and wrote the Spiritual Exercises. He is the figure most often linked to this maxim, and the Catholic Catechism footnotes it as “attributed” to him. The idea fits his outlook, but scholars note that this exact formula is found nowhere in his own writings or in documents from his lifetime. The closest early parallel is a description of his habits in Pedro de Ribadeneira’s biography of him.

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