A Politician, Chemo Therapy, Our Lady Of Fatima, A Novena And A Jesuit Priest

Cory: I have energy to go to beauty parlor
By Beverly T. Natividad

Philippine Daily Inquirer

05/31/2008
MANILA, Philippines--Like the mother to the nation that she once was, ailing former president Corazon Aquino asked Filipinos Friday night to pray not only for her but for the country as it deals with various crises. Exuding an aura of wellness and looking much better compared to her previous public appearances since she wasdiagnosed with colon cancer, the 75-year-old democracy fighter said prayers would help the country survive its ordeals.

"We all know the difficulties we are going through. Only through prayer can we surmount all of this," Aquino said at a healing Mass for her at the Church of the Gesu in Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.

Aquino told reporters she was responding well to chemotherapy and she still had the energy to go out about two or three times a week for occasional visits to her office or to go to a beauty parlor. 'Doctors very positive' It was Aquino's third known public appearance since her family broke the news of her illness on March 24. "At least the chemo is doing me good. The doctors are very positive," said Aquino, who was accompanied to the Mass by her son, Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, and her grandson, Jiggy Aquino Cruz. She said she was feeling much better and her health was "improving slowly." She said doctors had told her that her blood tests showed that she was responding very well to treatment. "My blood work is okay. Kulang na lang appetite ko [It's my appetite that is lacking]," she said. In a speech following the Mass, Aquino again expressed gratitude to numerous Filipinos praying for her as she battles the big "C." 'Who can be luckier than I?' She said that in the midst of her difficult times, knowing that Filipinos were praying for her gave her enough energy to carry on. "I've had good days. But on the days when I'm not feeling all that well, what keeps me going is the thought that thousands of Filipinos are praying for me," Aquino said.

"Who can be luckier than I to have so many praying for me," she added. Fatima's intercession The Mass at the Ateneo last night was the fifth and last healing Mass for the former President.

The series of novena Masses was for the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima for her full recovery. Friday night's Mass was concelebrated by Imus Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle and Aquino's spiritual adviser, (video here) Jesuit priest Fr. Catalino Arevalo.

Link (here)