Therese was canonized on 17 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI, only 28 years after her death. Therese was declared a saint five years and a day after Joan of Arc. However, the 1925 celebration for Therese "far outshone" that for the legendary heroine of France. At the time, Pope Pius XI revived the old custom of covering St. Peter's with torches and tallow lamps. According to one account, "Ropes, lamps and tallows were pulled from the dusty storerooms where they had been packed away for 55 years. A few old workmen who remembered how it was done the last time — in 1870 — directed 300 men for two weeks as they climbed about fastening lamps to St. Peter's dome." "The New York Times" ran a front-page story about the occasion titled, "All Rome Admires St. Peter's Aglow for a New Saint". According to the "Times", over 60,000 people, estimated to be the largest crowd inside St. Peter's Basilica since the coronation of Pope Pius X, 22 years before, witnessed the canonization ceremonies. In the evening, 500,000 pilgrims pressed into the lit square.