MANILA, Philippines—At the same place where prayers and rosaries stopped Army tanks in February 1986, a Catholic priest on Friday called on the people to "pray for a miracle" for ailing former president Corazon Aquino.

"Edsa Shrine is holy ground. We are now calling for a miracle from the Lord for Tita Cory. And may the Lord grant us our simple request, because we love President Cory," said Msgr. Gerardo Santos, president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP).

The CEAP offered a Holy Mass for Aquino at the Our Lady Queen of Peace EDSA Shrine in Quezon City, continuing the series of healing Masses for the recovery of the cancer-stricken former president.

The Mass was attended by Aquino's daughter, Viel Aquino-Dee, and granddaughter, Gia.

In a statement distributed after the Mass, the CEAP with the Manila Archdiocesan and Parochial Schools Association and the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Association lauded Aquino for setting "an example of faith, strength and selflessness."

"President Cory's spiritual and moral leadership was the beacon that united the Filipino people against a dictatorship," the statement said. "Those who serve in government would do well to follow President Cory's example."

A simple housewife, Aquino was thrust into the limelight when her husband, opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. was shot dead at the international airport while escorted by a group of soldiers on his return from exile in the United States in August 1983.

His death sparked widespread protests that pushed the dictator Ferdinand Marcos to call for snap elections in February 1986. He was challenged by Aquino's widow, Corazon.

About two weeks after the hotly contested elections and at the height of a nationwide protest movement launched by Aquino, then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Philippine Constabulary chief Lieutenant General Fidel Ramos, after an apparently botched coup attempt, switched allegiance to Aquino, who they confirmed was cheated in the election.

What followed was a dramatic but largely bloodless confrontation between the people, who were armed with prayers and rosaries, and the military tanks at the intersection of Edsa and Ortigas, where now stands the Edsa Shrine.