Just a few weeks since the death of her husband, Miguel, and amid her grief, Virginia Pérez de Santana, clutching a rosary, recounted with serenity and strength their story of a love that endures, sustained to the very last moment by the certainty that God exists and never abandons us.
Although she grew up in a Catholic family, Virginia said she felt that "something was missing": a spark, an impulse of faith that would dispel her doubts regarding the existence of God. What she never could have imagined was that this longed-for certainty would come with the illness of her husband, Miguel, a dentist whom she met while volunteering in Cambodia 14 years before.
Although Miguel never doubted, she said, faith did not occupy a central place in their lives. But everything changed one day in July 2024 while they were enjoying a vacation with their three children: Virginia, 5; Miguel, 4; and María, 3.
After suffering severe headaches and a loss of mobility in his left arm, Miguel decided to go to the emergency room.
And that moment marked the beginning of it all.
"While waiting, Miguel was incredibly nervous, because he sensed that something was wrong. He was very agitated the entire time, saying, 'I want to get out of here, I want to get out of here — I can't breathe,'" Virginia told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. After several tests and a long wait, the doctors confirmed what the couple feared most: Miguel had a brain tumor and required emergency surgery.
'I've had an experience with God'
Gripped by fear and uncertainty, Virginia left the room to tell her parents what was happening. Upon her return, Miguel was no longer the same: His nervousness had vanished, and his face reflected a surprising peace and serenity. "When I came back, they had already moved him into an emergency bay, and I saw him there, laughing and talking with the other patients," she recalled.
Then, Miguel took his wife's hands and said: "Virginia, be at peace; I've had an experience with God."
Miguel told her that, after being left alone in the room once the nurse had gone, he got down on his knees and pleaded: "My God, please, don't leave me alone."
A love 'not of this world'
After praying, Miguel felt as though someone were embracing him, and in that instant, a warmth coursed through his entire body: "From head to toe, he felt a kind of electricity, of love, love, love. A love so pure, a love so profound, that he said it was not of this world."
She recalled how her husband recounted to her every detail of the embrace he felt in the empty room, where he heard someone say to him: "Be at peace; I am with you, and I bear your cross with you."
"And in that moment, he began to weep; not out of sorrow, not because of the tumor, but out of happiness. Then, he took my hands once more and said to me: 'Virginia, you, who have sometimes had doubts — never, never, never doubt again, for God exists. I no longer merely have faith; I am certain that God exists."
From that moment, Miguel experienced a profound peace and an absolutely radical transformation, "even physically," recalled Virginia, whose friends and family told her that he looked even "more handsome" than before his illness because of the happiness he radiated.
'He was in love with God'
Although her husband was "a very good person," Virginia recalled, with a smile, that he complained at times. Nevertheless, he offered up all his suffering and illness. "He would tell me that he was in love with God and that he didn't want to complain, he wanted to do everything for God."
"He used to tell me that he felt just like a typical teenager waiting outside school for his girlfriend to come out," she recalled.
She said that her husband never stopped talking about God and would tell her: "In time, you will come to see this as a blessing, because thanks to the tumor, God has granted me this experience; and thanks to this experience, my eyes have been opened — for before, I was blind."
Miguel was discharged from the hospital 15 days after the emergency operation. "He was happy," his wife remembered. During his stay at the hospital, they prayed the rosary daily, and Miguel made a point of visiting some of the patients in nearby rooms, accompanied by the Schoenstatt Pilgrim Virgin statue.
Following the biopsy, they were informed that the tumor was one of the most aggressive types — incurable and fast-progressing. Yet, Miguel accepted the diagnosis with serenity, never questioning why this was happening to him.
"It was a profound acceptance of his illness," Virginia continued. "And the truth is, we were always side by side, like a team, always believing that we were in God's hands and that we simply had to accept his will. If a miracle occurred and he was cured, that would be wonderful; and if not — well, then whatever he decides, for we will never understand his ways."
Friends and parents from their children's school in Madrid formed a prayer group that grew to nearly 500 people, "almost none of whom we knew," Virginia said. "That gave us a great deal of strength: So many good people who, without even knowing us, cared and prayed for us."
Embracing illness as a gift
As time went by, although Miguel no longer felt the same powerful impact of the experience he had undergone in the hospital, he still saw God's love in the everyday "little signs" and gestures of the people praying for him. "It also brought me much closer to God," Virginia said.
In July 2025, the tumor recurred, returning with greater force and in a much more aggressive manner. "He always faced it with great courage, with great strength, and with immense faith. We always used to say: 'Whatever God wills.'"
The tumor progressed rapidly, all treatment options exhausted. In February, Miguel was admitted to palliative care at the Navarra Clinic in Madrid, where he remained until he died on March 10.
"Throughout that entire month Miguel spent in the hospital, he never once complained; even the palliative care doctors themselves told us they were astonished by the sense of peace we radiated," Virginia said.
Miguel was able to say goodbye to his children. "Watching how he faced his illness and how he faced death has set the bar very high for me," Virginia recounted.
'It's true that God exists, that he rose again, and that he is with us'
Drawing upon her experience, Virginia hopes to reach out to those who are going through a similar illness: "God desires that very same love and that very same faith for them, too."
"Even if they haven't felt it within their own bodies, let them lean on the testimonies of others," she said, "because he is real; because it is true that God exists, that he rose again, that he is with us; and that even when you call out to him and it feels at times as though God isn't listening, he is indeed listening to you."
"That very same strength God has given us, he is also giving to other people ... Obviously, I would have preferred for Miguel to remain with me, to grow old alongside him, for our lives to continue on, free of illness and trouble. But I think that had we simply continued on in that same manner, would we have remained so close to God? Well — no; probably not," she reflected.
'No ordinary peace'
Virginia shared what she considers the most important thing of all: "I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to say that my husband is in heaven — because I know it; because he had immense faith, he had such deep love for God, and he demonstrated it in so many ways, such as by praying the rosary every day."
Shortly before her husband died, the chaplain at the Navarra Clinic administered the anointing of the sick.
"I said to Miguel: 'Do you realize how many people have drawn closer to God because of your illness? I truly believe there is nothing more important you could have done,'" she said.
With tears in her eyes, Virginia said that if one sets aside "human selfishness," her husband has already achieved his goal: "To be with God — and in such a way."
"For Miguel, this has been the greatest gift God could have given him. Miguel is with God; he's happy, and that's what truly matters," she said. "And if you hold onto that thought, your life changes."
"The peace we experienced throughout the entire process of his illness and his death was no ordinary peace," she said. "I know it because we were enveloped by so many people's prayers, and because we were enveloped by God."
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
