Just weeks after the death of her husband, Miguel, and in the midst of her grief, Virginia Pérez de Santana, rosary in hand, told with peace and strength her story of a love that endures until the last moment with the certainty that God exists and never abandons us.
Although she grew up in a Catholic family, Virginia said she felt “something was missing”: a spark, an impulse of faith that would overcome her doubts about the existence of God. She never imagined that this long-held certainty would come with the illness of her husband, Miguel, a dentist, whom she met while volunteering in Cambodia 14 years ago.
Although Miguel never doubted, he said, faith did not take a central place in his life. But everything changed one day in July 2024 when they were enjoying the holidays with their three children: Virginia, 5; Miguel, 4; and Maria, 3.
After experiencing severe headaches and loss of mobility of 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 felt like something was wrong. He was very agitated the whole time, saying, ‘I want out of here, I want out of here — I can’t breathe,'” Virginia told ACI Prensa, EWTN News’ Spanish-language affiliate. After numerous tests and a long wait, doctors confirmed what the couple feared most: Miguel had a brain tumor and needed emergency surgery.
Miguel and Virginia with their three children. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Virginia Pérez de Santana
‘I had an experience with God’
Panicked with fear and uncertainty, Virginia ran out of the room to tell her parents what was happening. Upon his return, Miguel was no longer the same: his nervousness had disappeared, and his face reflected an astonishing calmness and peace. “When I came back, they had already taken him to the emergency bay, and I saw him there laughing and talking with other patients,” she recalled.
Then, Miguel took his wife’s hand and said: “Virginia, rest in peace; I have had an experience with God.”
Miguel told her that, left alone in the room after the nurse left, he got down on his knees and pleaded: “Oh God, please, don’t leave me alone.”
A love ‘not of this world’
After praying, Miguel felt as if someone were embracing him, and in that moment, warmth ran throughout his body: “From head to toe, he felt a kind of electricity, of love, love, love. Love so pure, love so deep, that he said it was not of this world.”
She recalled how her husband had told her every detail of the embrace she felt in the empty room, where she heard someone say to her: “Be in peace; I am with you, and I bear your cross with you.”
“And at that moment, he began to cry; not from sadness, not because of the tumor, but from joy. Then, he once again took my hand and said to me: ‘Virginia, you, who have sometimes doubted – never, never, never doubt again, because God exists. I no longer just believe; I believe that God exists.'”
From that moment on, Miguel experienced profound peace and an absolutely radical transformation “even physically,” recalls Virginia, whose friends and family told him he looked “more beautiful” than before his illness because of the joy he radiated.
“You’ll look at the tumor as a blessing.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of Virginia Pérez de Santana
‘He loved God’
Although her husband was “a very nice man”, Virginia recalled with a smile that he would complain at times. Nevertheless, he endured all his pain and illness. “He told me he loved God and he didn’t want to complain, he wanted to do everything for God.”
“He used to tell me that he felt like a normal teenager waiting outside school for his girlfriend,” she recalled.
She said her husband never stopped talking about God and told her: “With time, you will see it as a blessing, because thanks to the tumor, God has given me this experience; and thanks to this experience, my eyes have been opened – because before, I was blind.”
Miguel was released from the hospital 15 days after the emergency operation. “He was happy,” his wife remembered. While in the hospital, they prayed the rosary daily, and Miguel made it a point to visit some of the patients in nearby rooms, along with the Schönstatt Pilgrim Virgin statue.
After a biopsy, he was told the tumor was one of the most aggressive types – incurable and fast-growing. Nevertheless, Miguel accepted the diagnosis calmly, never questioning why this was happening to him.
Virginia added, “It was a deep acceptance of his illness.” “And the truth is, we were always together, like a team, always believing that we were in God’s hands and we just had to accept His will. If there was a miracle and he recovered, that would be wonderful; and if not – well, whatever he decided, because we would never understand his ways.”
Friends and parents from her children’s school in Madrid created a prayer group that grew to about 500 people, “of whom we knew almost none,” Virginia said. “This gave us great strength: so many good people who, even without knowing us, cared about us and prayed for us.”
Miguel and Virginia with their families. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Virginia Pérez de Santana
Accepting illness as a gift
As time passed, although Miguel no longer felt the powerful impact of the hospital experience, he still saw God’s love in the everyday “small signs” and gestures of people praying for him. “It brought me closer to God,” Virginia said.
In July 2025, the tumor reemerged, coming back with greater strength and in a more aggressive manner. “They always faced it with great courage, great strength and immense faith. We always said: ‘Whatever God wishes.'”
“He always faced it with great courage, great strength and immense faith.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of Virginia Pérez de Santana
The tumor grew rapidly, exhausting all treatment options. In February, Miguel was admitted to palliative care at the Navarra Clinic in Madrid, where he remained until his death on 10 March.
Virginia said, “During the entire month that Miguel spent in the hospital, he did not complain once; even the doctors doing palliative care told us that they were surprised by the sense of peace he achieved with us.”
Miguel was able to say goodbye to his children. “Seeing how he dealt with his illness and how he dealt with death, it just raised the bar for me,” Virginia said.
Miguel with his three children. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Virginia Pérez de Santana
‘It is true that God exists, that He rose again, and that He is with us.’
Based on her experience, Virginia hopes to reach people who are going through a similar illness: “God wants the same love and the same faith for them.”
“Even if they haven’t felt it within their own bodies, they should rely on the testimony of others,” she said, “because He is real; because it is true that God exists, that He is risen again, that He is with us; and even when you cry out to Him and sometimes it feels as if God is not listening, He is really listening to you.”
“The same strength that God has given us, He is giving to other people as well… Obviously, I would have wanted Miguel to be with me, to grow old with him, so that our lives could go on free of illness and trouble. But I think if we just kept going on like this, would we have been so close to God? Well – no; probably not,” she reflected.
“I feel incredibly lucky to be able to say that my husband is in heaven.” | Credit: Photo courtesy of Virginia Pérez de Santana
‘No normal peace’
Virginia shared what she considers the most important thing: “I feel incredibly lucky to be able to say that my husband is in heaven – because I know it; because he had immense faith, he had such a deep love for God, and he demonstrated it in so many ways, such as by praying the rosary every day.”
Shortly before her husband’s death, the chaplain of the Navarra Clinic performed anointment 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 than what you could have done,'” she said.
With tears in her eyes, Virginia said that if one puts “human selfishness” aside, her husband has already achieved his goal: “to be with God – and that way.”
“For Miguel, this is the greatest gift God could have given him. Miguel is with God; he is happy, and that’s what really matters,” she said. “And if you hold on to that idea, your life changes.”
“The peace we experienced throughout the process of his illness and his death was no ordinary peace,” he said. “I know this because we were surrounded by the prayers of so many people, and because we were surrounded by God.”
this story was first published By ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language affiliate of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
