We show that it is possible to quench oscillations of the ruthenium bipyridyl catalyzed Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction by a pulse of light when the system is run close to a supercritical Hopf bifurcation. The response to light depends on the phase of oscillations at the exposure and on the total absorbed radiant energy. It is characteristic of a quenching associated with the geometry of a limit cycle and invariant manifolds of a saddle focus created by a Hopf bifurcation. The experimental results impose a constraint on the possible production and consumption of species induced by light. It can help clarify the mechanism of the effect of light on the system. This is important to the use of light for studying chemical waves and for chaos control.