Today the Church celebrates All Saints’ Day, the feast of all of the souls in heaven, whether we know of them or not. One question I often get asked, especially by the kids, is: how does a person become a saint (meaning how is a person canonized)? It is a good question to ask because the act of canonization is often misrepresented by the world around us.
The Church does not have the authority to say where a person is in the afterlife; really no human person does. We do not have the authority to pass judgment on another person, for good or ill. It is just as much an act of judgment to declare someone to be in heaven as it is to say they are in hell. So why does the Church then say that St. Francis or St. Teresa or any other saint is in heaven? Because God has revealed it to us. Canonization is, in a certain sense, an act of revelation by God about a person.
The first step of canonization involves an investigation to make sure the person did in fact live and act in accord with Jesus’ teachings (the role of a saint is to be a role model of holiness for us, after all). From there, the Church must wait to see if any miracles are granted via the potential saint’s intercession. If John’s brother is sick, and believes Sister Sarah, who just died, is in heaven, he can turn to her in prayer and ask her intercession to save his brother. If that miracle is granted, that is a sign from God that Sister Sarah is in fact Saint Sarah. There is naturally an investigation first to confirm that the miracle was real, and there has to be a certain number of miracles; but once those miracles have been established as real and the right number of miracles has been reached, then the Church can declare that the person is a saint in heaven.
This obviously does not happen for everyone, though. This is why the Church celebrates All Saints’ Day: to celebrate all of those souls who are reigning triumphantly with Our Lord, whether we know they are there or not. May we celebrate the Church Triumphant this week, and the following day pray for the souls still waiting to enter that victory.