The world recedes; it disappears;
Heav'n opens on my eyes; my ears
With sounds seraphic ring:
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! where is thy Victory?
O Death! where is thy Sting?
-Alexander Pope
Maria Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco Aquino
11th President of the Republic of the Philippines
Pious Leader, Restorer of Democracy, Mother and Tita
(January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009)
Today, August 1, 2009, the Philippine beacon of democracy passed away. In 1986, this beacon has united the Filipino people in the unprecedented display of peaceful revolution.
In her last days, she has once again united the nation in prayer - thousands of candles burned, hundreds of Healing Masses and millions of prayers knocked on heaven’s doors.
In the announcement of her passing, her consistent message was echoed by her son: “Pray for one another.”
With all these, the skeptic may ask, “Why was she still taken?”
The answer lies in the yellow ribbons tied in the electric posts, trees and buildings of Metro Manila; in the outpouring of people who flocked to the hospital where she was confined; in the stuffed toys from children, flowers and candles offered outside her home in Times Street in Quezon City; in the long line of people, young and old, to see her one last time in La Salle Greenhills in San Juan City.
People continued to flock to see her – even in the heavy rains which seem to be heaven’s sign of mourning. Young ones who were not even born in the time of the EDSA revolution flashed the “LABAN” sign before her. Men did not withhold their emotions. And tears flowed, and continues to flow…
Why was she taken still?
For us to remember what true democracy is all about…
For us to always evoke the power of prayer…
For us to continue to ask ourselves the question that she has imbibed: “What can I do for my country?”
Today is a sad day in history but a glorious day in heaven. God’s faithful daughter has returned. I believe in my heart God’s welcoming message will be: “Well done My child, for a life well lived!”
