r Christ, being God, is
infinitely true and could not deceive or be deceived. To canonize,
therefore, does not mean to make a saint, but to declare to the whole
world that such a one was a saint while upon earth. After death we
cannot merit, so our reward in Heaven will be just what we have secured
up till the moment of our death; hence holiness is acquired in the
Church Militant.

How does the Church canonize a saint? Let us suppose some good man dies,
and all his neighbors talk about his holy fife, how much he did for the
poor, how he prayed, fasted, and mortified himself. All these accounts
of his life are collected and sent to Rome, to the Holy Father or to the
cardinals appointed by him to examine such statements. These accounts
must show that the good man practiced virtue in a more than ordinary
manner, that he either performed some miracles while he lived, or that
God granted miracles after his death through his intercession.

These accounts are not examined immediately after his death, but
sometimes after a lapse of fifty years or more, so that people might not
exaggerate his good works because they knew him personally.

When these accounts are examined, one is appointed to prevent, if he
can, the canonization. He is sometimes called the devil's advocate,
because it is his business to find fault with all the accounts and
miracles, and prove them false if possible. This is done to make certain
that all the accounts are true and the miracles real. If everything is
found as represented, then the good man is declared venerable, later
beatified, i.e., called blessed, and still later canonized, i.e.,
declared a saint. If he is only beatified, he can be honored publicly
only in certain places or by certain persons; but if he is canonized, he
can be honored throughout the whole Church by all the faithful.

Thus we understand the three branches of the one true Church--the Church
Militant, i.e., all those who are on earth trying to save their souls;
the Church Suffering, those in Purgatory, having their souls purified
for Heaven; and the Church Triumphant, those already in Heaven.

The "communion of saints" means that these three branches of the Church
can help one another. We help the souls in Purgatory by our prayers and
good works, and the saints in Heaven pray for us. But "communion of
saints" means still more. Let us take an example. Suppose there are in a
family, living together, a mother and three sons. The eld