The faithful around the world are united in celebration after the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Her sanctity has inspired and encouraged so many through her example of serving the poorest of the poor. And on Sunday, Pope Francis followed her example.

“Good works are links that form a chain of love,” said Mother Teresa — now Saint Teresa.

In honor of her canonization, the pope chose to provide a pizza lunch to 1,500 poor and needy people under the care of the Missionaries of Charity, reported Catholic News Agency.

These people were invited to the canonization and came from all over Italy, including Milan, Bologna, Florence, Naples and Rome.

A statement from the Vatican confirmed these “are poor and needy people, above all from the dormitories of the Sisters of Mother Teresa and come from all over Italy.”

The group was driven in buses to the canonization and they were seated inside the square. After the canonization Mass, the group went to Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, where they were fed a pizza lunch. The large group was served by several hundred of Mother Teresa’s sisters.

Related: Mother Teresa: ‘The Poor Can Be Wonderful’

These 1,500 are served every day by Mother Teresa’s legacy — and on her canonization day, they were the guests of honor. She wouldn’t have wanted anything less.

Mother Teresa once said, “Good works are links that form a chain of love,” and her good works certainly have built that chain.

Today, there are over 4,500 sisters in the Missionaries of Charity, the order that Mother Teresa founded. All of those sisters touch countless lives with their faithful and generous work.

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But despite her tireless work with the poorest of the poor and dying, it was not them she pitied. She pitied those who were and still are spiritually needy and dying.

“Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world,” she once said.

That constant rushing around and focus on money was what she believed to be real poverty. In her honor, the truth of faith is realized. The pope — whose sense of generosity extends beyond this incident — made the ultimate tribute to Mother Teresa, following her example.

And perhaps, Mother Teresa’s real mystery of sanctity is found in her constant and unfailing example of generosity.

James 2:17 says: “In the same way faith, if good deeds do not go with it, is quite dead.” Mother Teresa lived out that scripture in her every action.