“I can well believe…because of the many enemies and
difficulties you meet with in God's service where you are, and also because of
the enemy of human nature and his incessant temptations, you are feeling
overwhelmed. For the love of God our lord, try to keep going forward.,,, For
the love of our Lord let us make every effort in him, since we owe him so
much. For we tire of receiving his gifts
much sooner than he tires of giving."—Jesuit founder St. Ignatius of
Loyola (1491-1556), to Inez Pascual, Dec. 6, 1524 (his earliest extant letter),
in Ignatius of Loyola: The Spiritual Exercises and Selected Works, edited by George
E. Ganss, S.J. (1991)
The image accompanying this post is a painting of the great saint by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens
(1577-1640). The painting is owned by the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, Calif.
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