“Tita Cory believes in miracles. In life and in death, she taught us that we have to pray no matter what odds are facing us," Prof. Josephine Aguilar-Placido said.

A year after she breathed her last, former President Corazon C. Aquino is remembered this Saturday by a nation inspired by her iconic status as a champion of democracy.

In her death, “Tita Cory” was honored as a heroine by Filipinos, pouring into the streets dressed in yellow and drenched in tears and rain. But for those closest to her, we learned how they valued her more for her common roles in life – as a dependable mother, a supportive wife, and a prayerful Catholic who kept the faith in the darkest and most difficult times of her life.

Cory's nurse remembers
It was in her days of twilight, struggling against colon cancer, that her inspiration blossomed anew with yellow ribbons being a staple sight first in Makati and then almost everywhere in the country.

The tying of yellow ribbons from Buendia to Ayala was a show of support to Cory and her family when she was confined at the Makati Medical Center (MMC).

Room 920 on the 9th floor of the MMC was the room that last witnessed her pains. Like her, it is gone now as the hallway leading to that room is under renovation.

There may be no more tangible remembrance of Cory’s historic stay at MMC but memories about her is still as fresh as yesterday for Eireen Aldave, one of the former President’s attending nurses.

As her bedside nurse, Aldave was there on that fateful hour that she breathed her last.

While the rest of the country was anxious about Cory’s real state of health, only her family members and a chosen few, including Aldave, saw what was kept from the media and the public.

“I’m forever thankful for having been given the rare opportunity to serve her. I never thought somebody like me would be nursing somebody as prominent as her who I only knew through history books and the media,” Aldave said.

During the interview, tears formed around Aldave’s eyes and her voice nearly cracked. Reminiscing Cory as the first patient who died under her watch brought back tons of emotions to the 25-year-old nurse.

“What I remember most about her is her being kind. She always thanks you for the littlest thing you do for her even if it’s your job. She is different from other patients because she rarely shows her pain. She chose to endure her situation silently and she never complains,” she recounted.

Aldave also said her experience with Cory has taught her the importance of praying together with family.

“After seeing how closely-knit her family is, how united they are in praying by her bedside made me value my family more. Their prayerful family inspired me to be prayerful myself,” she added.

Cory: Prayerful and inconspicuous
Like Aldave, Manfred Malenab’s first thought when memories about Cory are mentioned is her being a prayerful woman.

Malenab, one of the security guards at the Sto. Niño de Paz Chapel at Greenbelt 2, did not only witness the Novena Masses being held at the chapel for Cory’s recovery last year.

He himself came across the former President hearing Holy Mass but far from making herself readily noticed.

“She usually sits at the pew closest to Mama Mary when she gets to the chapel before the Mass. But when she misses the homily, she no longer enters the chapel full of people and instead stays outside in a very prayerful aura. I really sense her sincerity in praying,” Malenab said in Filipino.

Cory’s prayerful personality proved to be contagious for while she was undergoing treatment for cancer, her friends and other faceless people gathered together at the chapel to pray for her recovery.

“In my seven years of watching this area, it was only last year that mass-goers in the chapel almost doubled,” Malenab said.

“But there were more civilians than VIPs who attended the Novena Masses for Cory. It’s very much indicative of the people’s undying loyalty to her,” he added.

Malenab admitted that he idolizes Cory for being the first woman-President of the Republic. But her death inspired him more to pray and believe in miracles.

“Even if she knew that death was coming, she kept praying. She still clings to God for hope. That is something she really taught me,” he said.

Aldave’s and Malenab’s common memory about Cory’s being prayerful makes for the argument of some who believe she should be a candidate for sainthood.

Prof. Josephine Aguilar-Placido said Filipinos remember Cory as a prayerful person – with some even considering her as saint-like – because despite all the challenges she went through, her faith in God was steadfast.

“Tita Cory believes in miracles. In life and in death, she taught us that we have to pray no matter what odds are facing us. Her being a devout Catholic is something that all of us strive hard for and can relate to,” she said.

And indeed, Cory’s legacy is beyond democracy and politics. Aldave’s and Malenab’s stories proved that Cory has also made an impact on the religious lives of the Filipinos.