Priest · Feast day July 31
St. Ignatius of Loyola
The feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola is July 31, a memorial in the US Catholic calendar. Traditionally invoked as patron of soldiers and retreats. Below: a short life and 3 sourced quotations in their own words.
| Feast day | July 31 |
|---|---|
| In the US calendar | Memorial |
| Title | Priest |
| Died | 1556 |
| Patron of | soldiers, retreats |
| In their own words | 3 sourced quotations · 2 attributed sayings (source unconfirmed) |
| Next on Bless’s Today screen | None left in the published calendar (through December 31, 2028) |
Life
A Basque soldier whose leg was shattered by a cannonball at Pamplona. Convalescing with nothing to read but lives of Christ and the saints, he noticed that worldly daydreams left him dry while thoughts of God left him in peace — the seed of his rules for discernment.
From that sickbed came the Spiritual Exercises and the Society of Jesus, which he governed from Rome until his death, sending men to the ends of the earth for the greater glory of God.
Patron of
Tradition invokes St. Ignatius of Loyola as patron of soldiers and retreats.
Saints with the same patronage
- St. Sebastiansoldiers · January 20
- St. Georgesoldiers · April 23
- St. Joan of Arcsoldiers · May 30
- St. Martin of Tourssoldiers · November 11
Patronages are traditional, not an official list. All patron saints in Bless, A to Z.
In their own words
Each quotation names the work it comes from. Bless quotes these in the comments beside the verses listed under In Scripture.
Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. You have given all to me; to You, Lord, I return it.
Love ought to manifest itself in deeds rather than in words.
Attributed, source unconfirmed
These sayings circulate under the saint’s name, but no source has been confirmed. Bless shows them with that label.
Pray as if everything depended on God; work as if everything depended on you.
Go, set the world on fire.
In Scripture
In Bless, St. Ignatius of Loyola’s words appear in the comments beside these verses. This page’s labels say how each is linked: “on this verse” means the saint wrote about that very verse; “on this theme” means the quotation shares its theme. Scripture is quoted from the Catholic Public Domain Version.
On this theme
Let us all listen together to the end of the discourse. Fear God, and observe his commandments. This is everything for man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 · CPDV Beside their words: “Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save…”
On this theme
And each one who calls upon my name, I have created for my glory. I have formed him, and I have made him.
Isaiah 43:7 · CPDV Beside their words: “Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save…”
On this theme · source unconfirmed
Therefore, go forth and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:19 · CPDV Beside their words: “Go, set the world on fire.”
On this theme · source unconfirmed
I have come to cast a fire upon the earth. And what should I desire, except that it may be kindled?
Luke 12:49 · CPDV Beside their words: “Go, set the world on fire.”
On this theme
saying: “Father, if you are willing, take this chalice away from me. Yet truly, let not my will, but yours, be done.”
Luke 22:42 · CPDV Beside their words: “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will…”
On this theme
And so, I beg you, brothers, by the mercy of God, that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, with the subservience of your mind.
Romans 12:1 · CPDV Beside their words: “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will…”
On this theme · source unconfirmed
And so, my most beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but even more so now in my absence: work toward your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both so as to choose, and so as to act, in accord with his good will.
Philippians 2:12–13 · CPDV Beside their words: “Pray as if everything depended on God; work as if everything depended on you.”
On this theme · source unconfirmed
Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as for the Lord, and not for men.
Colossians 3:23 · CPDV Beside their words: “Pray as if everything depended on God; work as if everything depended on you.”
2 more verses
On this theme
Thus even faith, if it does not have works, is dead, in and of itself.
James 2:17 · CPDV Beside their words: “Love ought to manifest itself in deeds rather than in words.”
On this theme
My little sons, let us not love in words only, but in works and in truth.
1 John 3:18 · CPDV Beside their words: “Love ought to manifest itself in deeds rather than in words.”
In the calendar
The upcoming dates, through December 31, 2028, when Bless’s Today screen shows St. Ignatius of Loyola. Where the US calendar keeps another celebration that day, it is named instead and no rank is given.
Readings
No dates are left in Bless’s published calendar, which runs through December 31, 2028. St. Ignatius of Loyola keeps July 31 in Bless’s calendar of saints: see the saints of July.
All the saints of July Born on July 31? A saint for every day
Spotted a mistake in a date, a patronage or a quotation? Report an error and we’ll fix it in the app and here.