Remembering Our Mother,
Miriam Editha Aguilar Gorre (1954 – 2025)
By Michael Vincent Aguilar Gorre

Our dear mother, Miriam Editha Aguilar Gorre, passed away peacefully with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church and surrounded by family on Friday of Sorrows, April 11, 2025, after an intense battle with breast cancer. She is survived by our father, her husband of forty-six years, Vincent Omar Gorre, me, her son Michael, and daughters Catherine (Aaron) and Maria (John). She was a loving grandmother to three granddaughters, Alivia, Elisea and Julia. She is also survived by her brother, Mr. Jose Aguilar, and sisters, Mrs. Marietta Munoz, Mrs. Agnella Bandril and Mrs. Mary Joan Angeles. She is predeceased by her parents, Col. Francisco Aguilar and Mrs. Fausta Aguilar (née Serrano), and beloved sisters, Mrs. Maria Teresa Teodosio, Dr. Erlinda Mariano and Mrs. Maria Lourdes Buncayo. Having been born in Manila, Philippines, she was an alumna of Saint Scholastica’s College and the Philippine Women’s University in Manila.

The youngest of eight children, she was one of the “post-war babies.” Her father, Col. Francisco Aguilar, served in the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) during the brutal invasion of the Philippines by the forces of the Empire of Japan during World War II. As an army officer, he deposited his family on a remote island and joined guerilla resistance forces in the jungle. Not knowing if he was alive or dead after almost two years without contact, our grandmother Fausta, “Lola Ting,” began receiving pressure to remarry since she was told her husband was most likely dead. Always believing he was still alive, she and her four young children were relieved when he finally came back. The letters and money he had been sending through the underground resistance “mail” were pocketed by other desperate resistance fighters. Our grandfather remained in the army and rose to the rank of colonel, distinguishing himself in engagements against communist and Muslim rebels, even capturing one of the latter group’s leaders. Mama grew up in the shadow of her father’s heroic achievements, although he never shared details of his exploits with his mostly feminine brood. Our mother used to brag about how she and her sisters were taken to school in her father’s military jeep.

Mama had three paternal aunts who took the veil as brides of Christ: a Carmelite, Sister Joanna of the Cross, and two Benedictines, Sister Augustina and Sister Vicenta. As each of her sisters got married, Mama was the last hope they had that one of their nieces would follow in their footsteps. It was not to be. Instead, she did her best to live as a good Catholic wife and mother in the modern world. As a child, Mama used to take us to daily Mass wherever we happened to be in the sprawling metropolises of Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California. She taught us to pray the rosary kneeling before our statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and a picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Her piety was markedly Marian as she practiced the slavery of love to Our Lord Jesus Christ, through the Blessed Virgin Mary according to the method of Saint Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort. The wooden rosary she held in her hand as she suffered and until the day she died was well-worn by years of insistent prayer.

She was especially close to her sister, Mrs. Agnella Bandril, with whom she and I share the same birthday. We probably spent as much time at “Tita Nell’s” house as we did in our own. After moving from California to upstate New York, Mama and Tita Nell were almost constantly on the phone with each other. Our mother was especially caring to her sister Dr. Erlinda Mariano, “Tita Linda,” during her own fight with breast cancer. She watched over her and cooked for her during her very difficult chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Mama was ever the typical Filipino mother when it came to nourishment. “Make sure you give them refreshments and food,” she discreetly whispered to us while friends visited her less than two weeks before her death. “And send food home with them.” She always wanted her guests well-fed and never empty-handed. Her cooking was memorable and abundant. She could never make just enough food. She routinely made two or three times more than what was needed. She would often try new ways of cooking meals. We would ask her, “Mama, what did you do to make it taste different but so amazing this time?” She would shrug her shoulders and say, “I don’t know. I just started throwing things together.”

A long-time supporter of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and active in its America Needs Fatima (ANF) campaign, she and Papa took a large statue of Our Lady of Fatima to homes to pray the Holy Rosary and to spread the Fatima message of prayer, penance and conversion. About a week before her passing, a lady approached me after Mass and asked if I was Miriam’s son. When I said yes, she said, “Your mother brought the statue of Our Lady of Fatima to my home many years ago when I was going through a rough time. She gave me hope. And now I have five beautiful daughters. I want you to know that those who serve Our Lady will never be abandoned by her.”

Our mother was a disciple of Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira, the founder of the TFP, and devoured his writings and lectures. She was especially sensitive to the admirative spirit that Prof. Plinio encouraged for the fruits of Christian Civilization. She loved the idea that Prof. Plinio repeated from Dante that well-ordered human art was “God’s grandchildren.” This could be seen in her own artistic pursuits of painting and drawing, as well as in the encouragement she gave her children and grandchildren, whether it was Cate’s jewelry-making, my photography or Maria’s painting. She especially cherished the talented drawings and paintings made by her granddaughters. She also fostered in us a love for classical music, especially when, as children, we enjoyed the frequent home performances of founding TFP member and music composer Mr. Philip Calder, who made Tita Nell’s living room piano sound like an orchestra or a marching band.

We fondly remember the times when we saw her participate in America Needs Fatima’s Public Square Rosary Rally campaigns, where we prayed the rosary in the streets and in public places. I will never forget the first time we participated in a TFP campaign in 1988 when we prayerfully protested the blasphemous film The Last Temptation of Christ at the movie’s premiere in Hollywood, California. She held one side of the protest banner while I held the other side as we prayed the rosary in reparation for the grave insult to Our Lord.

Though we are most saddened by Mama’s death, we turn with hope and confidence to Our Blessed Mother of Perpetual Help and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, commending her soul to the loving arms of her Most Holy Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Funeral Mass will be held on April 26, 2025, at 11:00 AM at St. Thomas The Apostle Church, 4536 St. Paul Blvd., Rochester, NY 14617. Burial will follow at St. John’s Catholic Cemetery in Spencerport. Visitation will be held on April 25, 2025, from 4 PM to 7 PM at Bartolomeo & Perotto Funeral Home, 1411 Vintage Lane, Rochester, NY 14626.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to America Needs Fatima (anf.org) or Mt. Carmel House (mtcarmelhouserochester.org) in Miriam Editha Aguilar Gorre’s memory.

The family wishes to express their heartfelt thanks to the UR Medicine Hospice staff, Mt. Carmel House staff and caregivers for their loving support.