The great Venezuelan mystic Maria Esperanza, whose cause is now in the hands of her archdiocese in Venezuela, was not only prescient in certain matters, but also an eternal optimist.

The name “Esperanza” means “hope.”

That was and is Maria in a nutshell.

Many years ago, she told us and others, apparently referring to that region of Venezuela, and particularly the apparition site of Betania (which has been formally approved by the Church), two things:

“It will start [or begin] here,” and “The yellow races will rise up.”

What Maria meant exactly remains a matter of discussion, particularly in light of current (and to many, hopeful) events in Venezuela and specifically, indeed, Caracas.

Did her words have multiple meanings?

That may well be, for on one side they can be seen as ominous (Maria spoke about coming tumultuous events in the world), while on the other side the expressions were couched in hopeful words portraying “brilliant light” that would shine upon the world, that would bring nations back together, that would enlighten and whiten.

She spoke of prayer.

She spoke of spiritual revival.

Rivers of lights, was another way she put it.

And indeed rivers of light literally have been seen at Betania (which means “Bethany”) coming from a sun that at times has moved about as it did at Fatima, sending down rays that in one case, witnessed by this writer in December of 1991, formed a perfect image of Mary as depicted on the Miraculous Medal, streaming Grace from her hands.

Maria herself often had a brilliance, even an aura, around her (perhaps what in olden times was represented by artists as a halo).

One cannot however set aside the seriousness of other messages. Maria spoke of coming conflict (is that what she meant by the “yellow races” rising up), even major war, and great geophysical events. She told us about major earthquakes that would occur in the U.S. One day, she intoned to those close to her, they would see the ocean from Caracas. Major events in nature.

One pays special attention to this because Maria has a track record.

In January of 2001 she began to fret about a major attack on America, repeating it (to this website) in March of that same year. A big international power along with a small power that was already in the U.S. were ready to stage an attack.

It remains unclear who the “big power” might have been, but the smaller one seemed clearly tied, in retrospect, to the terrorists of al Qaeda.

In August, three weeks before the attacks of September 11, she had her people fax Spirit Daily to say that what she had warned about on those two previous occasions was now about to happen (“in three weeks or three months”; she wasn’t quite sure).

It ended up being three weeks.

Remarkably, she spoke to those close to her of seeing smoke and two buildings (“rascacielos’)—twins— that would fall.

She didn’t specifically identify the World Trade Center, but remarkably also was that she happened to be in Manhattan, crossing the George Washington Bridge, when the attacks occurred.

During her visit, she had prayed around several locations in New York, including Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and the shrine of Mother Cabrini.

This is recalled now when one wonders what might be “beginning” in Venezuela.

We reported on her saying this in November of 2017 in an article that referred to an earlier article in our archives that we have not yet located.

That article in 2017 (but penned years earlier than that)

—we’re endeavoring to determine  when—