THE APPARITIONS AT CONYERS, GEORGIA—I WAS THERE—WAS IT A GRAND HOAX OR NOT?

I can’t remember what year I went, I think around 1995 or so, but I was very impressed with how many people were there and I do believe I went with a small group of people from my parish in Augusta, GA, a short two hour drive. No matter the year, it was definitely on October 13 when I went. 

Conyers is a suburb of Atlanta about an hour east of downtown. 

And there were all kinds of people there, the sick, the lame, the dying and all those assisting them. It was almost like a Lourdes experience in Georgia! 

And everyone was praying and to have up to 100,000 pilgrims praying the Holy Rosary as Mrs. Fowler was having her “visions” was quite moving. 

I tend to agree with what Bishop Donoghue said and his openness to it. He is quoted in the last paragraph of this post from Wikipedia. The rest below is the dreaded and maligned but great AI summary of it:

Here is a facebook documentary with video evidence: 

 https://www.facebook.com/reel/1279163224343654/?fs=e&fs=e

The Marian apparitions at Conyers, Georgia, were a series of high-profile, alleged religious visions reported by housewife Nancy Fowler between 1990 and 1998. At their peak in the early-to-mid 1990s, Fowler’s farm in Conyers became one of the largest and most heavily attended unofficial pilgrimage sites in the United States. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Chronology of the Visions

• The Beginnings (1987–1988): Fowler first reported seeing a silent vision of Jesus Christ in 1987 while living in despair. By 1988, she claimed to receive inner locutions and visions from the Virgin Mary, whom she referred to as "Our Loving Mother". Mystically guided to relocate, she and her family moved to a farm in Conyers, Georgia, in 1990. [1, 2, 3]
• Monthly Apparitions (1990–1994): From October 13, 1990, until May 13, 1994, Fowler claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared to her publicly on the 13th of every month. These occurrences drew immense global crowds—frequently reaching up to 80,000 pilgrims in a single day—which severely strained local roads and infrastructure. [1, 2, 3]
• Annual Messages (1994–1998): Due to mounting pressure from local civil and church authorities, the schedule shifted. Mary allegedly announced she would only appear with a public message once a year on October 13—a date chosen to align with the historical anniversary of the "Miracle of the Sun" at Fátima, Portugal. [1, 2, 3]
• The Final Message (1998): On October 13, 1998, an estimated 100,000 pilgrims converged on the Conyers farm. Fowler emerged to deliver what she announced would be Mary’s final public message, which focused heavily on a call to the "youth of the world" to find moral direction. After this date, the public messages ceased completely. [1]

Core Themes & Pilgrim Customs

The messages Fowler delivered primarily emphasized traditional Catholic themes: repentance, frequent prayer (especially the Rosary), and personal conversion. They also included specific warnings for the United States, warnings of future war, and public admonitions against abortion and euthanasia. [1, 2, 3]

During the events, pilgrims engaged in several distinct devotions:

• Collecting Holy Water from a well on the property blessed by Mary.
• Praying at a large, 15-foot crucifix on "Holy Hill".
• Taking Polaroid photographs of the sun and sky, hoping to capture miraculous changes in light, crosses, or shapes of holy figures. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Catholic Church Position & Scientific Testing

The Roman Catholic Church never officially recognized or sanctioned Nancy Fowler’s visions. The Archdiocese of Atlanta maintained a highly skeptical and hands-off approach. While they did not issue a formal final condemnation, they actively forbade priests from leading organized pilgrimages to the farm, prohibited celebrating Mass on the property, and discouraged the faithful from treating it as an official shrine.[1, 2, 3]

In the mid-1990s, a team of scientists and neuropsychophysiologists tested Fowler during her alleged states of vision. Their data indicated that she entered genuine altered states of consciousness during the events and did not exhibit signs of psycho-pathology, though critics and skeptics remained convinced the events were a combination of psychological delusion or financial exploitation. [1, 2]

Aftermath and the Site Today

Following the conclusion of the public visions, Fowler distanced herself from the supporting non-profit organization (Our Loving Mother's Children, Inc.) in 1999. She eventually moved to Texas, kept a very low profile, and passed away from cancer in 2012. [1, 2]

The Conyers farm site (located at 2324 White Rd NE) still exists today as a peaceful spiritual retreat. Maintained by a foundation, the 120-acre property features the original prayer farmhouse, a grotto with various shrines, walking trails, and stations of the cross, remaining a quiet place of prayer for visitors. [1]

Would you like to explore the exact text of the final 1998 message, look into the scientific testingperformed on Nancy Fowler, or learn more about how to visit the current memorial farm in Conyers?

Position of the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church maintains a cautious stance towards the Conyers apparitions. While the Church has not officially endorsed the apparitions, it also does not condemn them outright.^[6] Archbishop James Patterson Lyke, O.F.M., who was Archbishop of Atlanta during the time of the apparitions, forbade priests from leading or initiating pilgrimages to Conyers.^[1][7] In 1994, Lyke's successor, Archbishop John Francis Donoghue, reiterated the directives to priests concerning pilgrimages to Conyers.^[5] Archbishop Donoghue was more open to the events however. In a June 12, 1994 article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, he said of the Conyers apparitions, “People are praying. People are coming back to church who hadn’t been in church for a long time.  People’s faith is restored.  Conversions are taking place.” Portions of the Blessed Mother’s final message to Nancy were even published in the Atlanta Archdiocese newspaper, the Georgia Bulletin.