Former President Corazon Aquino is fighting for her life. And she is not suffering from cancer alone but from social cancer – the moral cancer, and political cancer of society today.

These were the words of Fr. Yulito Q. Ignacio during the healing mass held for the country’s most iconic national leader at the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Makati City recently.

“Cory has said it very clearly. She is offering her suffering for the healing of our land…for the healing of our people. She has been chosen at this very moment by Jesus to share His suffering in His Pascal Mystery of the Cross,” he said.

During his sermon, Ignacio extolled the virtues of the country’s first female president, describing her as God’s and Mother Mary’s gift to the Filipino people.

He said Cory’s victory over President Ferdinand Marcos was the product of the Filipino people’s prayers, penance, and sacrifice during the Marian year of 1985.

Ignacio recalled that His Eminence, Jaime Cardinal Sin, one of the most influential religious leaders in the country’s history, told Cory following her proclamation: “Your victory, Cory, is a Marian victory. It is a victory of the Marian year.”

As Father Ignacio traced back the events which led to Mrs. Aquino’s assumption to office as President, he said former Senator Ninoy Aquino himself recognized his role in the country’s liberation when he quoted from the Scriptures in 1982 and said: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a seed; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruits.”

Ignacio said a year after, with a Rosary in hand, Ninoy returned home to become a willing martyr to fashion Our Lady’s own “plan of love and light” for the Filipino people. Ignacio said Ninoy abandoned himself to the care of Mother Mary and she chose him to be the seed to be planted on the fertile soil of her Immaculate Heart.

Ignacio, who quoted the words of Pope Pius XII and St. Augustine, said: “What we consider as human coincidences are often planned out in heaven to increase our faith as we witness the unfolding of events according to God’s loving designs.”

Ignacio said with Cory’s willingness to suffer for the country, Filipinos should also learn from the experiences of the Aquinos, whose primordial concern has always been similar to the aim of the Marian Year for C-onversion of heart, O-ffering of tasks and duties of our daily lives, performed with grater fidelity, and R-eparation – more time spent in prayer, through deeds of justice and compassion of sharing with those in need.

“C-O-R, this may also be our gift to Cory to lighten her suffering…. We can all share in Cory’s suffering. We can unite ourselves towards the renewal of our hearts, the renewal of our nation and the healing of our land,” he said.

“President Maria Corazon Aquino, hindi ka nag iisa, kaagapay mo kami sa iyong paghihirap, kaisa mo kami sa iyong pag-aalay ng iyong sarili para sa ikabubuti ng ating bayan, kasama mo kami, ikaw ay palagi sa aming panalangin. Mahal ka naming lahat (President Maria Corazon, you are not alone. We are with you through your suffering, we are at one with you as you offer your suffering for the good of the country. We are with you, you are with us in all of our prayers. We love you,” he said.

The former president, who was diagnosed last year with colon cancer, was reported to be in stable condition but weak due to lack of nourishment.