Page:The religious life of King Henry VI.djvu/105

Rh instituted in England for the proposed canonization of Henry VI, and for this reason is of interest and importance. The document in question sets forth at great length the various steps which have to be taken and the enquiries which have to be made into the life and virtues of the person proposed for canonization, and then into the miracles which are said to have been worked, and for which evident proof has to be forthcoming. Then follows in the document an account of the ceremonies in Rome, together with the fees and costs of a public canonization.

This official paper partly helps us to understand the delay which took place in the process of the canonization of King Henry, for it says that when some person of authority approaches the Roman Pontiff in such a matter, not once but many times instantes instancius, the Pope does not act at once, but waits till the reputation of sanctity grows and miracles are claimed as having happened and have been proved by tested evidence. All this is the work of the preliminary enquiries made in the country and place where the proposed saint lived. If the demand for the