Maria knew she had something special in Miguel when he said these seven words: "From now on, you are my priority."
It took María over a year to answer Miguel's message. The English teacher from Santiago del Estero, Argentina, created a CatholicMatch profile in September of 2016, but she was only active for two weeks. In June of 2018, she signed back on, and—to her surprise—she had many messages.
"I decided to give the site a try and after praying to Jesus and mother Mary to help me in my search, I paid for a one-month subscription," says the 32-year-old.
She noticed that Miguel, a cardiologist from La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, had sent her a smiley face so she responded in kind. After messaging back-in-forth for awhile, Miguel gave María his email address and Facebook infomation.
"It was good for me to have his Facebook account and see his pictures and posts because it gave me confidence since I could see his friends and family and read some of his writings," she says. "Seeing that his account was not new gave me a little more sense of security."
She didn't realize he was asking her out on a real date
The couple was talking every day, and Miguel kept asking María to Skype because he wanted to see her face while they were talking, but she kept refusing because she felt shy.
"However, one Sunday evening after midnight, I needed to talk to him and to see him. I suppose I wanted to check if, in fact, he was a doctor, and if he had a 24-hour shift at the hospital on Sundays, as he said! And yes, it was true," she recalls.
After a few weeks, Miguel asked María if she would like to get a cup of coffee with him. Mind you; they live nearly 700 miles apart.
Confused, María asked him, "Are you talking about a virtual coffee?"
Miguel replied, "No, a real coffee—face-to-face."
María, feeling flustered, bombarded Miguel with questions.
Miguel laughed, "María, stop! Just answer me, 'Would you like to have a coffee with me?'"
What if they didn't have chemistry in person?
After one more month of intense talking, Miguel flew to meet María. They met where her parents live.
"I wanted to be surrounded by my family in case anything went wrong," María exclaimed.
María felt nervous about meeting. Just days before Miguel's flight, she asked him if he was sure about coming to see her. She worried out loud to him, "What if we don't have a connection when we meet?"
Miguel told her, "What is the limit? Is one two-hour flight going to deter me from knowing my significant other?"
Because of his work schedule, Miguel could only stay for a 30-hour visit. The couple spent as much time together as possible.
"We had many dates in one day! His flight arrived at 7:00 a.m. and we had a three-hour breakfast together. Then we drove around the city, went for a walk in the park, and enjoyed lunch together," she recalls.
In the afternoon, María took Miguel for tea at her parent's home. On her parent's doorstep, Miguel turned to María and asked her, "How are you going to introduce me?"
She answered, "As my friend. That is what we are. Aren't we?"
More than friendship
Miguel wanted more than just friendship. In the evening, as María was taking Miguel to his hotel, he asked her if she would like to walk around the river. There he asked her to be his girlfriend, and she accepted. The following day, the couple had breakfast together before Miguel had to catch his flight.
"We kissed goodbye, and I will always remember his words: 'From now on, you are my priority,'" María recalls about how they parted.
Miguel adds, "I said that because it was true. It was an intense feeling and my real intention."
"When he told me that I was his priority, I thought I was dreaming," she says. "I could see in his eyes his sincerity. I thought, 'This is too beautiful to be true.'"
Come again?
The couple traveled back and forth several times to meet each other and to get to know one another's family. In January 2019, María visited Miquel in La Plata. One evening during her stay, he asked her to wear something dressy because he was taking her to a nice restaurant in Buenos Aires. Even so, she didn't catch on that Miguel had something special planned.
"The waiters knew the reason for the dinner, so they were waiting for 'the big moment' to come," she shares.
Miguel proposed in English, but María didn't respond right away.
"I was shocked, and it took me some time to react," she recalls. "Of course, I said, 'YES!'"
Then the waiters brought a cake with a candle and the word "congratulations" written on the side.
María says she should have known Miguel had intentions to propose because earlier in the day, she noticed that he was looking at her differently.
She imagined what it would feel like
On November 16th, 2019, Miguel and María were married at the Cathedral of La Plata in La Plata, the capital city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. María shares that one of her favorite memories is when she arrived at the Cathedral, and she saw her family and friends waiting for her.
"I used to watch this moment in films and imagine how it would feel," she recalls.
Miguel adds, "My favorite moment was when the priest blessed our rings, and we put them on one another. To know that what you have lived, prayed, and looked forward to has finally materialized."
Advice for others...
María and Miguel tell members to have patience, faith, and to be open to a long-distance relationship. "Distance can be difficult, but it's not impossible to overcome. There might be a reason why God has put your significant one in a faraway place," they say.
See their charming wedding trailer:
