Ad maiorem Dei gloriam

Society of Jesus

History of the Jesuits Regimini militantis Suppression Jesuit Hierarchy Superior General Adolfo Nicolás Ignatian Spirituality Spiritual Exercises Ad maiorem Dei gloriam Magis Discernment Famous Jesuits St. Ignatius of Loyola St. Francis Xavier Blessed Peter Faber St. Aloysius Gonzaga St. Robert Bellarmine St. Peter Canisius St. Edmund Campion

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam or ad majorem Dei gloriam (when an "i" functions as a consonant in Latin, it is often represented with a "j"), also known by the abbreviation AMDG, is the motto of the Society of Jesus, commonly referred to as "the Jesuits." The society is a religious order within the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church. In Latin, the motto means "For the greater glory of God" and is believed to have been coined by the founder of the religious order, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, as a cornerstone of the society's philosophy.

A.M.D.G. engraving in choir loft of St. Ignatius Church, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts adjacent to the campus of Boston College

Images of Saint Ignatius, with him often carrying a book, would have the motto inscribed within the book - representative of the religious writings of the saint.

This phrase is the motto of many Jesuit educational institutions, including eight of the twenty-eight members of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, and many high schools worldwide. In Georgetown University's Gaston Hall, the phrase is followed by "inque hominum salutem," making the full phrase state "for the greater glory of God and the salvation of humanity."^[1]

Many Jesuit schools and universities ask students to write the initialism at the tops of their papers, to remind them that even their schoolwork is "For the Greater Glory of God".

A.M.D.G. was frequently included in the signatures of the late Pope John Paul II^[2].

References

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