ive ways to correct ignorance and corruption among the clergy and faithful. They felt it would help to stem the decline of the Church in the face of the Reformation, and to fulfill the motto of the Society of Jesus, "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam”, and To the Greater Glory of God. Ever since his student days in Paris, Ignatius had suffered from stomach ailments and they became increasingly troublesome in Rome. In the summer of 1556, his health grew worse, but his physician thought he would survive this summer as he had done others. Ignatius, however, thought that the end was near. On the afternoon of July 30th, he asked Polanco to go and get the Pope's blessing for him. Polanco trusted the physician more than Ignatius and told him that he had a lot of letters to write and mail that day and that he would go for the Pope's blessing the next day. Though Ignatius indicated that he would prefer if he went that afternoon, he did not insist. Shortly after midnight, Ignatius took a turn for the worse. Polanco rushed off to the Vatican to get the papal blessing, but it was too late. The former worldly noble and soldier who had turned his gaze to another court and a different type of battle had rendered his soul into the hands of God. Ignatius was beatified on July 27, 1609 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622 together with St. Francis Xavier. The universal Church celebrates Ignatius’ feast day on July 31, the day he died....
