If your definition of a saint is perfection, then you have stricter moral requirements than God Himself. But, if your definition of a saint aligns with those of the Church, then surely Queen Isabella I is qualified for this most holy honor.
There have been many biographies written about Queen Isabella, but this story must focus on her legacy. A legacy that stretches the entire globe and reclaims the New World for God.
Queen Isabella came into her throne (1474) amidst contention with her alleged niece, among many others. However, after a lengthy victory, Queen Isabella became the undisputed Queen of Castile. Through her 1469 marriage with the King of Aragon and many other realms, Ferdinand II, the two united the largest Iberian kingdoms and then conquered the last remnant of Moorish rule in Granada.
These feats and a descendent were able to re-unite all of Spain in a composite monarchy, a predecessor to the Kingdom of Spain we see today. Thus, Queen Isabella I was monumental for Spain because without her and her husband's marriage, Spain would have never been the same.
But, it is not her feats in Spain and her impressive law and order she brought to Castile bringing living standards drastically up that creates the impetus for her sainthood, rather it is her Faith that led her kingdom to reconnect the New World, establishing a new Civilization, a new people, and creating the largest expanse of Christendom the world has seen.
When Christopher Columbus set out to find supporters for his quest to India, he eventually found solace in Queen Isabella I. It was her leadership that embraced the navigator and it was her will that set forth the notion and law that the people he would find, would be guaranteed to have human rights and be Spanish!
While misgivings happened in the Americas during Queen Isabella's reign, she always did her best to quash these great sins. However, the distance of an ocean greatly delayed Justice administrator's ability to enforce law and order.
Nevertheless, her direction instructed the Spanish settlers to treat well and respect the Native inhabitants of America, and the many islands as Spanish citizens with dignity and to missionize our Faith to her new loyal subjects.
Unfortunately for the Spanish realms, Queen Isabella died in 1504, just 12 calendar years after Christopher Columbus landed in what is now The Bahamas. But she did so in the most Christ-loving way.
Her whole life sought the salvation of souls, which is why she held important liturgical events for various feasts like Holy Thursday's Last Supper and the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th. These days were her most important.
As she died, she continued to invoke Christian ethics when she called on her family to practice forgiveness as she received Anointing of the Sick.
For these reasons, she became an immediate candidate for sainthood in many eyes because she died with not only an ultimate Catholic legacy, but also as a true Catholic. And as we know, sainthood is reserved for anyone in Heaven, and canonization is simply the recognition on Earth of this "definitive" reality.
However, despite having a legacy that Christianized two continents and many other nations, Queen Isabella is still at the first of four stages to canonization, a "Servant of God".
This first stage is accomplished through investigations at the local diocesan level, while the next three stages head to the Vatican City to earn the titles Venerable, Blessed, and then Saint.
Due to many reasons, these next stages have yet to be accomplished since 1974 when she first became a "Servant of God". Therefore, we ask that you pray for Queen Isabella; we know she is in Heaven, and we want to help honor her life and legacy to become canonized on Earth.
Some may wonder why this is important and they have every right to wonder. If you are not familiar with her life, you probably do not wonder about Queen Isabella I and her legacy much, if at all. However, this honor is not for her Spanish legacy, rather this honor is for her Catholic legacy.
We must embrace missionization again and to be unapologetically Catholic, but we often struggle to find these attributes in the present-day. That is why Queen Isabella's canonization should be prayed for, because saints live forever by definition, and canonization "definitively" makes this a reality to believe.
Therefore, canonization of Queen Isabella will remind our Faithful that God loves us and wants us to make as many Christians as we can, and in the end, the canonization process will be answered by God and not us. So, we are praying to God to canonize Queen Isabella, which would only be right.