MANILA, Philippines -- Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas called for a rosary prayer crusade ?for the total cure? of former president Corazon Aquino who has colon cancer.

Villegas urged the public to pray the rosary and receive communion every day from May 1, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, until May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.

?When I was private secretary of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, I had the privilege to meet with Sister Lucia, one of the Fatima visionaries. The saintly visionary told Cardinal Sin to give President Cory a rosary that Sister Lucia herself made in the monastery. She told Cardinal Sin to tell President Cory that ?You, Corazon, are a blessing for the Philippines,?? Villegas recounted.

?By the power of the rosary, we won our freedom at EDSA in 1986. By the power of the same rosary, let us ask for the total healing and full cure of her who was a symbol of God?s blessings for the Philippines,? the bishop said in a letter to the faithful in his diocese.

Copies of the letter were also distributed to the media by the Archdiocese of Manila.

?I personally know how devoted President Cory is to the rosary and Our Lady of Fatima. Let this prayer crusade be our expression of love for her and our expression of faith in the Lord,? he added.

Aside from praying the rosary and receiving communion, Villegas also urged those who will join the prayer crusade to ?make acts of charity for the poor and give alms to the least, the last and the lost in our midst.?