Road Trip to the Conyers Apparition Site

We did a couple of blog posts about the Conyers Apparition Site and never did go to the actual site. So, in celebration of St. Augustine’s Day, which there is one of, we went out there to see what it was.

We have blogged about this place before. We experienced backroad travelers like to know about this sort of thing if it is close to us.

The Conyers Apparition Site, which they called the Our Loving Mother site, or “the Farm” was the scene of a series of “Marian Apparitions” that attracted huge crowds during the early 1990’s. The well-preserved site of the actual Nancy Fowler farmhouse is in Conyers, not far from the Georgia International Horse Park.

Back Story

Suffice it to say that we have a couple of previous articles on this topic. From 1990 until 1998 a series of what the Catholics call a “Marian Apparition” or appearance of the Virgin Mary, reputedly occurred at this place.

Here are links to the other articles.

Nancy Fowler and the Conyers Apparitions

The Mystery of the Conyers Apparitions

In the spirit of backroad travel, we determined to go over there and see what was up with the place. The actual location is here:

https://goo.gl/maps/VjELCNA54qmRKVds6

It’s actually very well marked. Get off at the terrible Conyers exit, take a right, and then in about four miles, White Road is on the left.

The Conyers Apparition Site/The Farm

At this point, there is a collection of buildings at The Farm. The original farm house still stands, we suppose this is a little time capsule from the late 90’s. There is a spiritual center, a gift shop and a little barn. It is open from 8 to 8.

To tell the truth, we forgot to look for the well which is on the property which was the source of so much attention during the events. It also didn’t look like there was much going on in the gift shop or the spiritual center.

What is there is a collection of little shrines and grottos dedicated to various Saints and Apostles. Many of these have a few rows of seating. The whole thing was very tidy, and we would have to say, in a very subdued way, very peaceful.

The Farmhouse

Based on some of the descriptions, which we have linked in the previous articles, on the morning of the 13th of each month, a crowd started to assemble at this place. There is a lot of open area even now, and you can sort of envision a big anxious crowd, which had come from all over the country.

Someone led them in songs, and prayers of some kind. We believe based on some of the signage that this must have been partly in Spanish.

At some point Nancy Fowler, the conduit for the messages, went into a bedroom, and went into sort of a trance. Some other observers were also in the house at the time, and at times, they received messages in glowing form somehow above this crucifix in the living room.

The assistant “George” apparently had the ability to go in and get the messages from Nancy.

Reportedly, among the crowd, there were often visions, there were sightings of a figure floating above the farm, there was a spinning sun, there were messages of various types. As is the case for most of these situations, you, one of the pilgrims, could be sitting next to someone who was having the vision while you were just having a pleasant day in the sun.

There were reported miracles, healings, and a variety of other unusual events. There are plenty of accounts if you would like to click back and see what the experience is like.

The Current House

It must be pretty close to what it was at the time. Tidy, but not constructed originally to be any kind of permanent monument to anything.

A young family, possibly Latino, but maybe not, was leaving just as we entered. We supposed that it would be more grandiose somehow than it was. We did enter the living room, and took a few photos. and quietly left.

The Grounds

We sat for a few minutes under a big tree, at a picnic table, in front of this statue, which we believe is St. Jude the Apostle. In a general way, we did sense that the place was very serene. Despite a couple of fellows running landscaping equipment, their noise did not disturb us.

Were there any healings or miracles? Not on our watch. We checked the gift shop. Evidently there are occasional services here still, there is a “healing service” scheduled for Monday, but you need an appointment to be healed.

You know who we didn’t want to be? The guy in this house, which is directly across the road. There are a few parking spaces here now, but not enough for 100,000 people, and this poor fellow probably had some unexpected visitors.

What did the Catholics make of this?

These apparitions are considered “private revelations” which are essentially messages, which are revealed to the “receiver”. It is possible that many people can receive the same message, and the messages can be either lengthy or not so much. Also, a lot of these messages have an apocalyptic tone, and predict disasters of one type or another, as did some of Nancy Fowler’s messages.

This sort of thing happens often enough that the Church recognizes the possibility that they may be real, versus some sort of scam.

There is actually a protocol in place for the leadership to determine the legitimacy of a Marian Apparition. Even if the Bishops determine that it is “real”, there is no actual requirement that any of the “faithful” believe in it, even if the person next to them saw something that they didn’t.

Approval of these things is relatively rare. There was a rejection of a Marian Apparition in 2007 in the UK, and in Elyria Ohio in 2009. As you remember from the previous article, the Church declined to investigate the Conyers Apparitions at all.

What did we make of all of this?

Well, this was actually a pleasant spot. The curious guest of the Firefly that wanted to look in on this place could do so harmlessly. We were never really approached by any authority figure, everything was tidy, and we would imagine that if we had brought the sacraments with us, we would have found a pleasant place to enjoy them.

Plus we got a story, and of course, as collectors of stories, that made it worth the trip. What we really want to know is whether or not one of the fellows doing the landscaping is “George” and if so, we missed the real story. The open invitation for George to visit us still stands.

Our Patron Saint of Backroad Travel, Saint Han of Solo, would say “Kid, I’ve been from one end of this galaxy to the other, and seen a lot of strange stuff.” Our other Patron Saint of Backroad Travel, Saint Jean-Luc de Picard, would say “Don’t forget the Prime Directive”.

In the spirit of that, we are learning the story, and waiting for our own revelation, if any.

Part of us wants to try out a few predictions just for fun. You never know. We may have been touched in some sort of subtle way.

A Miracle Site as a Real Estate Investment

Well, according to Zillow Stalking, which we occasionally do, the market value of this priceless little farm is $374K, which is relatively modest for an old house, built in 1974, on six acres. The property was last “sold” for $144K in 1994, which was probably when the foundation was formed.

We have to say that is probably about right based on what we know. Our Loving Mother’s Children Inc. which owns the place, is going to be reluctant to part with it. We do know that the property taxes on this place are only $285 per year so they must be getting the religious exemption.

The things you find out.