This is a photograph taken by a pilgrim visiting Conyers, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta, where housewife Nancy Fowler began having a series of visions of the Virgin Mary beginning in 1987. Among pilgrims to the site, according to the Web site (
http://www.conyers.org/conyers.html), "some people experience an overpowering scent of roses, others see the light around Nancy's statue of the Madonna and Child or the sun spinning as at Fatima and Medjugorje. But the most powerful experiences are those where whole families are deeply converted. Personal lives are changed from churchless to a level of sound orthodox wisdom that might otherwise take years of study to achieve." This photo of a statue captures "a bright light appeared to be emanating from beneath the roses around the area of Our Lady's heart." (Photo rights are owned by the photographer.)It is interesting that Conyers is also the location of the first school shooting following the Columbine High School massacre. Parents of Columbine victim Cassie Bernall recently published a book called She Said Yes about Cassie's life, culminating in her testimony of faith prior to being killed. It appears that she actually did not say yes after all. But Littleton is an area with a strong conservative Christian population. A third school shooting, in Jonesboro Arkansas, took place in a town where a couple was driven out of business, after attempting to open a New Age bookstore, by ministers and residents who accused them of Satanism. And in a fourth shooting, in West Paducah, KY, the victims were part of a high school prayer group.