The family of Maria Esperanza is trying to keep a "low profile" with evidence for what appears to have been remarkable events attached to the world-famous Catholic seer, who died a year ago this Sunday.

According to son-in-law and family spokesman Carlos Marrero Bornn, the family, led by Maria's husband, Geo, is following official guidelines as the Church considers her cause for veneration -- the first step on the way to potential sainthood.

"But there are incredible things," Bornn told Spirit Daily Tuesday. "There are old messages, from back before she was married. There are photographs. There is a video. And so many things have been happening as far as the strong presence of my mother-in-law. Everything has been flowing in a beautiful way."

Esperanza, who was associated with the Church-approved apparition site of Betania near Caracas, Venezuela -- a site approved when Pope Benedict XVI was prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (which oversees alleged apparitions) -- died on August 7, 2004, after prophesying that the mid-point of that very year would see a great change in the course of events, events that she had long predicted would include both difficult times like natural disasters and a glorious new awakening.

Originally expected to die on July 6, she made what doctors said was an amazing recovery, lasting another 33 days until every one of her six children were able to fly from Caracas to be by her bedside in New Jersey, where she said she was on a final "mission" and also was seeking medical help for a long, debilitating, Parkinson's-like disorder.

As if a bellwether, her death was followed in quick succession by Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances, Hurricane Ivan, Hurricane Jeanne, the Asian tsunami, the death of Fatima seer Lucia dos Santos, the momentous death of John Paul II -- for whom Maria dedicated her own suffering -- and the election of Benedict XVI.

Esperanza -- who foresaw September 11 and predicted a time of earthquakes and other upheavals -- left five daughters, all named after the Virgin Mary and two of whom are now said experiencing mystical events, including locutions and visions, which according to Bornn Maria prophesied would happen back in 1978.

"She was like a living sign of the beginning of events leading to a new era," said the son-law, who also served as Maria's official translator. "Now, at Betania, it is amazing. We feel so drawn there. They are building homes there for pilgrims, and a replica of the House of Loreto. The 'calls' to Betania are more frequent, and there are so many wonderful things. Plants are growing in a way that amazed an agricultural engineer who took a tour recently. He said, 'What you have here is blessed land. I have never seen such tomatoes without fertilizer."

Bornn described a number of other putative manifestations since the seer's death. The businessman said that on his wife Maria Coromoto's birthday last February 3, while praying at Maria's grave in the Cemetery of the East, Coromoto  asked for a rose petal as a present from her mother and when she returned found a full rose in the car.

"It was unlike what you see in a bouquet," said Carlos. "It had no stem, and when she put it in a dish, with some water, it stayed incredibly fresh for a tremendous length of time. It never did turn brown, and it still has a strong aroma."

Esperanza was closely associated with roses, including the sudden appearance of petals, the rose-like odor of sanctity, and the alleged materialization of an actual full-stemmed rose from her chest on 15 occasions -- a phenomenon that has challenged the credulity of even the most believing but has been witnessed by family members, journalists, businessmen, and doctors on a number of occasions.

According to Bornn, a video of the phenomenon -- striking even in the annals of saints -- was caught on video by a Caracas economist and family friend named Eduardo Beherenz but will not be publicly shown for at least five years, on recommendation of Church officials who have urged the family to keep the low profile.

"We're following Church directions," said Bornn, explaining that there had been a plan initially to locate Maria's body for viewing at Betania, but that an Opus Dei priest speaking on behalf of the diocese counseled the family to bury Esperanza as a normal person until the processes of potential veneration, beatification, and canonization are complete.