(Reprinted with permission from ?The Messenger of Divine Love? January-March 2008 issue with minor changes to fit the Inquirer style and for brevity.)
MANILA, Philippines--When Corazon Aquino was Philippine president in 1988, she made an official visit to the Vatican on June 18 that year. That was a really memorable event in her life.
We were told that Pope John Paul II, as he read his message, departed from his text to tell Mrs. Aquino that she represented for him the Filipino people?s special love for Our Lady, and that he trusted she would foster that special love (pueblo amante de Maria) in her years as the leader of our land.
Surely, Mrs. Aquino has helped keep that love for Mary, Mother of Jesus, alive and ardent among our people through the years as a public figure. It is something she continues to do up to the present. She is an active ?apostle of the Rosary.? She is, thus, simply living out her authentic devotion to Our Blessed Mother, something very deep and very real in her own life.
Mrs. Aquino has a special rosary which she has had since 1986 when the People Power revolution (Edsa I) brought her to the presidency in a historic and unique way?with People Power as Prayer Power.
In September of 1986, Jaime Cardinal Sin and Howard Dee, who was then Ambassador to the Vatican, organized an international theological symposium on ?the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary? which was held in Fatima, Portugal. This was attended by a number of outstanding European theologians.
During the meetings, Cardinal Sin took time off to visit Sr. Lucia dos Santos, ?the last seer of Fatima? at the Carmelite convent in Coimbra. The Holy Seer, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger?s office in particular, granted the privilege of the visit.
Sister Lucia was really happy to talk with the cardinal, who was accompanied by Fr. Socrates Villegas, now bishop of Bataan.
Sister Lucia had been told of the events leading to the People Power revolution and she assured the cardinal that she and the other sisters had prayed?and prayed much?for the Filipino people?s peaceful liberation from dictatorship. She seemed well-informed about Edsa I.
What followed was something the cardinal did not expect. She took out a rosary which, according to Sr. Lucia, she had made herself, bead by bead. She wanted Cardinal Sin to give the rosary as a personal gift to Mrs. Aquino. She also said, somewhat surprisingly: ?Tell her to take good care of it.?
It was a promise of Our Lady?s blessing on Mrs. Aquino during her presidency and beyond.
Let me now cite what Mrs. Aquino said: ?Sr. Lucia sent me this rosary which she herself made, with the message that I would be supported and protected in my presidency. She added, however, that more suffering would come my way. I now know that it was a prophetic message, as I had to fight back seven coup attempts to save my administration from power-grabbers in uniform. With Our Lady?s protection, I stood my ground and never left Malacañang, even when it was being attacked.?
The special rosary saw Mrs. Aquino through seven coup attempts. She finished her term, handing over the presidency to her duly elected successor, Gen. Fidel Ramos, in 1992. She entrusted the six years of her governance to Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady?s Immaculate Heart.
Cory visits Sr. Lucia
The year 1992 marked the 75th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions and Mrs. Aquino, who was no longer head of state, went to Fatima that year, armed with a permission to visit the Carmel of Coimbra and to talk with Sr. Lucia. Her daughter Kris accompanied her on this trip. Mrs. Aquino also brought a small group with her, who, unexpectedly, were all allowed to see Sr. Lucia.
The former Father General of the Comboni Fathers, Fr. Manuel Lopes, who had served in Manila before being elected Superior General, was with the group. A native of Portugal, he acted as translator in the conversation between Mrs. Aquino and Sr. Lucia.
Again, let me quote Mrs. Aquino: ?When I visited Sr. Lucia in 1992, the first question she asked me was, ?Do you still have the rosary I sent you?? I replied, ?Yes, but right now, a niece who lives in Boston and is hoping to have a baby [has borrowed] it. I feel so blessed and privileged to have this bond with Fatima, I have shared this rosary with relatives and friends.??
When we asked Mrs. Aquino the names of some of the people who had borrowed her rosary, usually at a time of crisis or a health need?a serious surgical procedure, for instance, or when begging for some important grace from the Lord?she sent this text message: ?Some names I remember who prayed using the rosary given by Sr. Lucia: Teddy Benigno, Chino Roces, Ed Angara, Violy Drilon, Bea Zobel and her daughter, Titoy Pardo, Sasa Lichauco, Doding Carlos, Meldy Cojuangco and her son Tony, Sr. Christine Tan, Mercy Tuason, Howard Dee and Dodo Dee, Arbern Santos, Bettina Osmeña and ... my sisters, my children and grandchildren.?
The list went on quite a bit and there were moving stories that accompanied many of the ?borrowings.?
The last weeks of Chino Roces? life was one story worth telling.
The heroic Chino had asked Mrs. Aquino to let him borrow the rosary as he waited for death. He prayed it daily with his loved ones, returning filial devotion to Our Lady when the end came.
Legendary
Sr. Lucia?s rosary has become somewhat of a legend.
Mrs. Aquino has been touched by accounts of how much healing, strength and comfort (even miracles) the rosary has brought to those who have borrowed it. But she has also wondered, as others have, why the humble and saintly Sr. Lucia was so insistent that she ?take good care of the rosary.?
One of those who were with Mrs. Aquino at Fatima in 1992 said: ?It seems to me that the sisters at Coimbra knew that Our Blessed Mother still appeared to Sr. Lucia, from time to time, even in her later years. It is interesting to note that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone SDB, the present Vatican Secretary of State, who ?officially interviewed? Sr. Lucia more than once before her death, said the same thing: ?Sr. Lucia received visits from the Blessed Mother in later years of her life.??
Some of the sisters believe that Our Lady, during one of her visits to Sr. Lucia, held the rosary in her hands and blessed it for Mrs. Aquino, promising her presence and strength in times of suffering and need. That was why Sr. Lucia reminded Mrs. Aquino to take good care of the rosary. Our Lady had held it in her own hands.
Lessons of Fatima
Let me share Mrs. Aquino?s words on trusting Our Blessed Mother and praying to her:
?What are the lessons of Fatima, which I have experienced in my own life and which I can share with you? When people talk of Fatima, they invariably focus on the secrets of Fatima. These are the ?three secrets? of Fatima which Ninoy and I discovered:
?First is the power of prayer, especially the daily praying of the rosary of Our Lady.
?Second is the acceptance in faith of God?s plan in our own lives and the entrustment of our lives to Mary.
?Third is the spirit of sacrifice to carry out God?s designs, after the example of Mary, offering personal sacrifice for a greater good toward God?s purposes.
Praying with Sr. Lucia
?These three elements are actually intertwined, as one leads to the others, to complete the process of one?s total conversion.?
Sr. Lucia dos Santos died in Coimbra on Feb. 13, 2005. She had earlier witnessed the beatification of her two cousins, Francisco and Giancinta Marto, on May 13, 2000, in Fatima.
Now that, as we hope and trust, Sr. Lucia has joined her cousins in heaven, we know she joins Mrs. Aquino whenever she prays with her ?special rosary.?
MANILA, Philippines--When Corazon Aquino was Philippine president in 1988, she made an official visit to the Vatican on June 18 that year. That was a really memorable event in her life.
We were told that Pope John Paul II, as he read his message, departed from his text to tell Mrs. Aquino that she represented for him the Filipino people?s special love for Our Lady, and that he trusted she would foster that special love (pueblo amante de Maria) in her years as the leader of our land.
Surely, Mrs. Aquino has helped keep that love for Mary, Mother of Jesus, alive and ardent among our people through the years as a public figure. It is something she continues to do up to the present. She is an active ?apostle of the Rosary.? She is, thus, simply living out her authentic devotion to Our Blessed Mother, something very deep and very real in her own life.
Mrs. Aquino has a special rosary which she has had since 1986 when the People Power revolution (Edsa I) brought her to the presidency in a historic and unique way?with People Power as Prayer Power.
In September of 1986, Jaime Cardinal Sin and Howard Dee, who was then Ambassador to the Vatican, organized an international theological symposium on ?the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary? which was held in Fatima, Portugal. This was attended by a number of outstanding European theologians.
During the meetings, Cardinal Sin took time off to visit Sr. Lucia dos Santos, ?the last seer of Fatima? at the Carmelite convent in Coimbra. The Holy Seer, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger?s office in particular, granted the privilege of the visit.
Sister Lucia was really happy to talk with the cardinal, who was accompanied by Fr. Socrates Villegas, now bishop of Bataan.
Sister Lucia had been told of the events leading to the People Power revolution and she assured the cardinal that she and the other sisters had prayed?and prayed much?for the Filipino people?s peaceful liberation from dictatorship. She seemed well-informed about Edsa I.
What followed was something the cardinal did not expect. She took out a rosary which, according to Sr. Lucia, she had made herself, bead by bead. She wanted Cardinal Sin to give the rosary as a personal gift to Mrs. Aquino. She also said, somewhat surprisingly: ?Tell her to take good care of it.?
It was a promise of Our Lady?s blessing on Mrs. Aquino during her presidency and beyond.
Let me now cite what Mrs. Aquino said: ?Sr. Lucia sent me this rosary which she herself made, with the message that I would be supported and protected in my presidency. She added, however, that more suffering would come my way. I now know that it was a prophetic message, as I had to fight back seven coup attempts to save my administration from power-grabbers in uniform. With Our Lady?s protection, I stood my ground and never left Malacañang, even when it was being attacked.?
The special rosary saw Mrs. Aquino through seven coup attempts. She finished her term, handing over the presidency to her duly elected successor, Gen. Fidel Ramos, in 1992. She entrusted the six years of her governance to Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady?s Immaculate Heart.
Cory visits Sr. Lucia
The year 1992 marked the 75th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions and Mrs. Aquino, who was no longer head of state, went to Fatima that year, armed with a permission to visit the Carmel of Coimbra and to talk with Sr. Lucia. Her daughter Kris accompanied her on this trip. Mrs. Aquino also brought a small group with her, who, unexpectedly, were all allowed to see Sr. Lucia.
The former Father General of the Comboni Fathers, Fr. Manuel Lopes, who had served in Manila before being elected Superior General, was with the group. A native of Portugal, he acted as translator in the conversation between Mrs. Aquino and Sr. Lucia.
Again, let me quote Mrs. Aquino: ?When I visited Sr. Lucia in 1992, the first question she asked me was, ?Do you still have the rosary I sent you?? I replied, ?Yes, but right now, a niece who lives in Boston and is hoping to have a baby [has borrowed] it. I feel so blessed and privileged to have this bond with Fatima, I have shared this rosary with relatives and friends.??
When we asked Mrs. Aquino the names of some of the people who had borrowed her rosary, usually at a time of crisis or a health need?a serious surgical procedure, for instance, or when begging for some important grace from the Lord?she sent this text message: ?Some names I remember who prayed using the rosary given by Sr. Lucia: Teddy Benigno, Chino Roces, Ed Angara, Violy Drilon, Bea Zobel and her daughter, Titoy Pardo, Sasa Lichauco, Doding Carlos, Meldy Cojuangco and her son Tony, Sr. Christine Tan, Mercy Tuason, Howard Dee and Dodo Dee, Arbern Santos, Bettina Osmeña and ... my sisters, my children and grandchildren.?
The list went on quite a bit and there were moving stories that accompanied many of the ?borrowings.?
The last weeks of Chino Roces? life was one story worth telling.
The heroic Chino had asked Mrs. Aquino to let him borrow the rosary as he waited for death. He prayed it daily with his loved ones, returning filial devotion to Our Lady when the end came.
Legendary
Sr. Lucia?s rosary has become somewhat of a legend.
Mrs. Aquino has been touched by accounts of how much healing, strength and comfort (even miracles) the rosary has brought to those who have borrowed it. But she has also wondered, as others have, why the humble and saintly Sr. Lucia was so insistent that she ?take good care of the rosary.?
One of those who were with Mrs. Aquino at Fatima in 1992 said: ?It seems to me that the sisters at Coimbra knew that Our Blessed Mother still appeared to Sr. Lucia, from time to time, even in her later years. It is interesting to note that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone SDB, the present Vatican Secretary of State, who ?officially interviewed? Sr. Lucia more than once before her death, said the same thing: ?Sr. Lucia received visits from the Blessed Mother in later years of her life.??
Some of the sisters believe that Our Lady, during one of her visits to Sr. Lucia, held the rosary in her hands and blessed it for Mrs. Aquino, promising her presence and strength in times of suffering and need. That was why Sr. Lucia reminded Mrs. Aquino to take good care of the rosary. Our Lady had held it in her own hands.
Lessons of Fatima
Let me share Mrs. Aquino?s words on trusting Our Blessed Mother and praying to her:
?What are the lessons of Fatima, which I have experienced in my own life and which I can share with you? When people talk of Fatima, they invariably focus on the secrets of Fatima. These are the ?three secrets? of Fatima which Ninoy and I discovered:
?First is the power of prayer, especially the daily praying of the rosary of Our Lady.
?Second is the acceptance in faith of God?s plan in our own lives and the entrustment of our lives to Mary.
?Third is the spirit of sacrifice to carry out God?s designs, after the example of Mary, offering personal sacrifice for a greater good toward God?s purposes.
Praying with Sr. Lucia
?These three elements are actually intertwined, as one leads to the others, to complete the process of one?s total conversion.?
Sr. Lucia dos Santos died in Coimbra on Feb. 13, 2005. She had earlier witnessed the beatification of her two cousins, Francisco and Giancinta Marto, on May 13, 2000, in Fatima.
Now that, as we hope and trust, Sr. Lucia has joined her cousins in heaven, we know she joins Mrs. Aquino whenever she prays with her ?special rosary.?
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