MANILA, Philippines ? Malacañang on Friday added its own prayers for the healing of former President Corazon Aquino, whom her spokesperson described as stable but ?weak.?

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led other government officials including Vice President Noli de Castro, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and most of the members of her Cabinet in a Mass held at the Palace?s Ceremonial Hall at 10 a.m. A number of Aquino?s relatives were also in attendance.

At the Our Lady Queen of Peace chapel on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue), Quezon City, which stands where ordinary Filipinos armed only with prayers stopped military tanks and toppled Ferdinand Marcos? dictatorship in February 1986, a call for a miracle for Aquino was made.

?The Edsa Shrine is holy ground,? said Msgr. Gerardo Santos, the president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP). ?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.?

?We add our prayers to [those of] the countless people who love and care for her,? Fr. Jason Laguerta, who celebrated the Mass with four other priests, said in his homily.

?We add our prayers no matter how unworthy [they are], acknowledging, of course, that Cory Aquino is more prayerful than many of us,? he said.

Laguerta said that when faced with illness, all the faithful could do was ?believe that God is merciful and loving.?

?He knows what is best for our former President,? Laguerta said, adding:

?Cory Aquino is a woman of faith and courage. We are confident that the Lord will never abandon her and, in fact, has never abandoned her.

?In our reading today of the Gospel, we have heard that whoever holds out to the end will escape death. This is what we firmly believe in: Whoever is faithful to God in the end shall escape death.?

Grateful for prayers

Aquino, 76, was diagnosed with colon cancer last year and has been confined at the Makati Medical Center since June 25 for loss of appetite.

She was informed of the Mass in Malacañang, her spokesperson Deedee Siytangco told reporters after the Mass.

?She?s still weak but she knows; she?s aware. She?s apprised of who initiates Masses and novenas,? Siytangco said.

Aquino?s children were invited to the Mass but decided to stay with their mother at the hospital, according to Siytangco.

?They are always grateful for all the prayers that are offered for their mother. So I guess they?re also grateful that the President and the Cabinet put aside the affairs of the state to ... be united in prayer,? she said.

Siytangco also said Aquino?s condition had somewhat improved: ?According to Raffy Lopa, her nephew and executive director of the Aquino foundation ... she?s been able to take some of the milkshake offered her. I guess that?s a positive improvement.?

Offering

Ms Arroyo, together with Aquino sister-in-law Lupita Kashiwahara and niece China Cojuangco, took part in the offertory.

Margarita ?Tingting? Cojuangco and former Sen. Tessie Aquino Oreta, both sisters-in-law of Aquino and both officials of the Arroyo administration, also attended the Mass.

Said Oreta: ?Anyone bombarding heaven and asking God for His healing mercies for Cory is very welcome. We?re very happy. It seems the whole country is praying for her recovery.?

The Mass was held a day after the end of the nine-day healing novena for Aquino at the Greenbelt 5 chapel in Makati City. It is the second Mass for Aquino in Malacañang, after the thanksgiving Mass for her successful colon operation in May.

Aquino has been a vocal critic of the administration since she joined calls for Ms Arroyo?s resignation at the height of the ?Hello Garci? election fraud scandal in mid-2005.

On holy ground

The CEAP counts as members 1,272 Catholic schools, colleges and universities nationwide. The Mass it offered was attended by Aquino?s daughter Viel Aquino-Dee and granddaughter Gia, who came with her classmates from the nearby Poveda School.

In a statement distributed after the Mass, the CEAP, along with the Manila Archdiocesan and Parochial Schools Association and the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations, said they were ?affirm[ing] the Filipino people?s debt of gratitude to President Cory.?

?[Her] spiritual and moral leadership was the beacon that united the Filipino people against a dictatorship. She restored our democratic institutions and governed with integrity and courage,? they said.

?Even beyond her service to the country as its highest official, President Cory?s example of faith, strength and selflessness continues to be the Filipino people?s guiding light. Those who serve in government would do well to follow [her] example.?

How it began

Aquino was thrust into the limelight in August 1983 when her husband, opposition leader Benigno ?Ninoy? Aquino Jr., was shot dead at the international airport in Manila upon arrival from exile in the United States.

Ninoy Aquino?s assassination sparked widespread street protests that ultimately led to a clamor for his widow to challenge the dictator.

About two weeks after the snap presidential election called by Marcos, then Defense Minister Enrile and then Constabulary chief Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos withdrew from the Marcos government and threw their support behind Aquino.

They said Aquino was cheated in the election.

For four days in February 1986, the people engaged Marcos? armed forces in dramatic but bloodless confrontations on the corner of EDSA and Ortigas Avenue, where now stands the Edsa Shrine.

In the end, the Marcoses fled Malacañang and were flown to Hawaii in the United States, and Aquino took power as President.

Retired Maj. Gen. Ramon Montaño, who joined the military breakaway from Marcos, said the people gathered at EDSA ?because they believed that Cory was cheated in the election.?

?President Cory was the rallying point of Edsa ?86. She is the living symbol of that revolution,? Montaño said after Friday?s Mass.