Today marks the celebration of the Day of the Canonization of Mother Teresa, the Albanian missionary who dedicated her life to helping the poor.

Eight years ago, on September 5, 2016, Mother Teresa, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was declared a saint. Pope Francis recognized two miracles attributed to her, involving the healing of the sick after her death in 1997.

Mother Teresa was beatified in October 2003 by Pope John Paul II, who approved the first miracle following her death. A 30-year-old woman in Calcutta claimed she was cured of a stomach tumor after praying to Mother Teresa. A Vatican committee confirmed there was no scientific explanation for her recovery, declaring it a miracle.

According to Albania’s “Law on Official Holidays,” the official holiday of September 19, which was the Day of the Beatification of Mother Teresa, was replaced with September 5, the Day of her Canonization.

Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje in the Ottoman Empire. Her family’s Albanian background gave her more opportunities than most other women would have. Although Agnes was inspired by tales of missionaries from a young age, it wasn’t until she was 18 that she decided to leave her parents in Ireland and join a nunnery to learn English. After moving to India in 1929 and becoming a nun in 1931, she took the name Teresa after Thérèse de Lisieux, patron saint of missionaries.

Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, a Roman Catholic religious congregation. All members must take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and a fourth vow to give “wholehearted free service” to the poor. Mother Teresa achieved worldwide recognition for her charitable works and was awarded many honors, including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. She was famously known as the “Teresa of Calcutta.” Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at age 87. The Indian government gave her a state funeral in gratitude for her services to the poor of all religions.

Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa in a ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on October 19, 2003. Pope Francis canonized Mother Teresa of Calcutta in September 2016. Mother Teresa, the Albania-born nun, and Nobel Peace Prize winner, said that she was Albanian by blood, Indian by citizenship, and Catholic by faith. This national holiday in Albania commemorated her beatification ceremony.