Especially in the current climate, where more people are canonised in a year than were in the previous century, the interesting background of the process, and how it has changed in recent decades, is quite interesting.

Unfortunately, the writer has far more understanding of the "legal process" in this area than any of either popular devotion or very obvious reasons why one candidate may be favoured over another. For example, devotion to saints, amongst the general population, often is not at all based on identifying with the total circumstances of the saint's life, but with a particular aspect. The author devotes much time to the lack of being "uninhibited" in bed which would supposedly keep married couples from identifying with Louis and Zelie Martin (whose marriage began rather oddly largely because both had longed for religious life). Aside from that one wonders how he would have known such details, that such are seldom mentioned in polite company much less in archives, and that a couple who had nine children must have not spent all of their time in chapel, it would be ridiculous to think that those devoted to the pair would have sexual inhibitions or a negative attitude as a result. The people I've encountered who wish to see Louis and Zelie canonised are generally those who envy that the Martins had five children who gave their lives to the Church... rather than two who want no part of church at all.

Part of what marks one for beatification is a continued devotion. Heavens, if two women, both saintly, lived in the same period, and one was the foundress of a religious order, the other a local parent, the fact that the cause of the former would be more likely to endure is simply practical. Mother Foundress would have been well known, because her Sisters would have told her story to all whom they served for generations afterward, would have published books about her life, and would have scattered descriptive holy cards far and wide. (Not to mention that the Order later would have financed the canonisation research.) The mother of a family would have been unlikely to be well known, and her kids may have found the stress of living with a saint rather strong ... her memory may die out with her grandchildren. It is not an indication that marriage is not holy.

Read with discretion. The political correctness and catering to popular misconceptions can obscure much. The political and legal aspects are nonetheless interesting reading.

One thought kept going through my mind while reading this book. Throughout the centuries, God continues to reach out to us, even physically. The four Gospels tell us that Jesus is not simply a God-teacher. He is a God of words and works. He physically fed people and raised the dead and healed the sick. He got his hands dirty, literally, to cure the blind. The miracles of the saints are simply God working through His people to reach out and touch the rest of us. The saints are pointing us to God and leading us to God and connecting us to God and to each other. Mr. Woodward has done a deeply personal job pointing out that there are necessary procedures to determine the validity of claims of miracles. To merely accept all claims of miracles would be a disservice to the candidate (I love the formal term used in the candidacy procedure, Servant of God) and to the Church at large. One point which I wish Mr. Woodward had covered is the process (if any) by which it is determined that the intercession of a particular saint is responsible for a particular miracle. For example, one family may be praying for the intercession of Padre Pio for a particular cause, and another person may be praying for the intercession of St. Katherine Drexel for the same cause, and so on. How is it determined which saint's intercession is responsible in the event of a cure? If the mark of a good writer is to leave the reader wanting more, Mr. Woodward has succeeded.

Basically, this book is totally rad. It not only provides a solid historical basis for understanding the evolution of hagiography, but also details Woodward's in-depth conversations with the movers and shakers in the Saint-Making World today. This really helps to make a connection between the past and present in this fascinating book.