MANILA, Philippines—The outpouring of prayers for ailing former President Corazon Aquino was akin to the years before the 1986 Edsa Revolution when the Philippines was a “prayerful nation,” Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles said Sunday in his homily at the healing Mass for Aquino at the Greenbelt 5 chapel in Makati City.

“We should all go back to the prayerful nation that we were before the 1986 Edsa Revolution and during her administration,” said Arguelles, a Marian priest.

“I’ve never seen an administration closer to God than during her administration,” he added after the Mass.

“Healing priest” Fr. Fernando Suarez is scheduled to officiate at Monday’s healing Mass for Aquino, according to her spokesperson Deedee Siytangco.

The former president was diagnosed with colon cancer last year. She has been confined at Makati Medical Center (MMC) since June 25 for weakness and loss of appetite.

From her hospital bed, Aquino continues to pray “for the nation,” Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman told the Inquirer Sunday. “She has not changed. She’s still praying the rosary. She’s praying for all of us, for the nation.”

In the 1980s, Aquino, a Marian devotee, was given a special rosary “to protect her and her presidency” by Sister Lucia, the last seer of Fatima. The rosary was handmade by Lucia, who died in 2005.

In past interviews, Aquino said the rosary helped her survive seven coup attempts against her administration.

The Jesus is Lord Movement (JIL) led by Bro. Eddie Villanueva also held a special prayer for the healing of Aquino at Music Museum in Greenhills, San Juan City.

During the service, Villanueva prayed over Aquino, who was represented by former Agrarian Reform Secretary Philip Juico and his wife Margie, who was the social secretary in Malacañang during the Aquino administration.

JIL spokesperson Andrea E. Trinidad said Villanueva had issued a pastoral letter to all JIL congregations in the Philippines and 44 other countries to hold a special prayer for Aquino on July 5.

Justice Adolf Azcuna, who served as Aquino’s legal adviser, read the novena prayer for the fifth of the nine-day novena of healing Masses held at the Sto. Niño de Paz chapel at Greenbelt 5.

Former members of Aquino’s Cabinet attended the novena with their families, as they have been doing since July 1, when she was reported to be in “serious” condition.