Mother Teresa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and famed benefactor of the poor, will be officially named as a saint, the Vatican announced Friday.

The New York Times reports Pope Francis has officially recognized a second miracle performed by the iconic Catholic nun, paving the way for her official canonization.

Mother Teresa died in 1997, at 87 years old. While there is usually a five-year period after death before someone can be considered for sainthood, Pope John Paul II speeded the process along through a special dispensation.

Pope John Paul II later beatified her in 2003 as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, as the Vatican determined she healed a woman's tumor through divine intervention.

However, canonization requires two miracles. Pope Francis recognized a second miracle, a Brazilian man who recovered from a brain infection after his wife prayed to Mother Teresa. He made the decision to name her saint on his 79th birthday, after meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato.

"We are all absolutely delighted about the news," said Sister Ita of the Missionaries of Charity to NBC News. "We are very happy to hear about the canonization and we look forward to hearing more details in due course."

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje of modern day Macedonia. Her parents were ethically Albanian, though they hailed from Kosovo.

At 18, she joined the Loreto order of nuns, later moving to India to found the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. She spent the majority of her life in Calcutta, caring for the poor and ill.

Her organization expanded to over 130 countries, and established hundreds of hospitals, clinics, orphanages, homeless shelters and soup kitchens.

When she won the Nobel Prize in 1979, she said she felt she did not deserve it, but would accept it "in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."

It is unconfirmed when she will be officially canonized, but Italian news media has previously speculated she would be named on Sept. 4, 2016, which is scheduled as a day to honor the work of volunteers.