[35mm Ohio] Our Lady of Ohio

I loaded up on water and fuel at a dilapidated BP where the service was friendly, but the bathroom less so. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, this place highlighted the importance of washing your hands. Staring at the map, I debated which direction to head next. I made a decision based on the project, not so much on Catholic upbringing. Continuing the trend of seeing “world’s largest” things in Northeast Ohio that day, I decided to press the gas towards the “World’s Tallest ‘Our Lady of Guadalupe.’”

Photographs made with a Pentax K1000 and Fujifilm Superia 400.

I’ll get into the history of this structure last, because I didn’t know it myself until after I had left. I had just seen the place listed on RoadsideAmerica.com and pinned it as something interesting to see if I was ever in the area. Rather than coming across devout worshipers, the only other souls I encountered were geese (if you can even argue that geese have souls and aren’t simply demons originating from Hell as opposed to Canada).

Before even reaching the site of the Virgin Mother, one must first pass a life size crucifix where Jesus is looking up towards the sky—resting above a collection of frozen candles and remembrances left by visitors. Continuing on a path dotted by distinct lighting fixtures, you eventually reach the statue where a handful of pews and a couple of kneelers stand. There are more candles here, more relics left behind, including “gifts” of the geese.

Making my way back down the path, I debated praying. I don’t consider myself religious, but I thought of my grandparents. If there’s anyone who would appreciate this as more than just something interesting to see, and rather as something of true spiritual significance, it’d be Nana and Papa. So I attempted a prayer for them. As I bowed my head and put my hands together, the geese called out and a car sputtered by—the first I had heard while visiting this particular patch of Ashtabula County. Perhaps the Lord was in the wings of the birds or the struggling muffler of a Dodge Neon that day.

While this statue of Mary has only been standing in full since 1995, the story goes back to 1531 when Saint Juan Diego is said to have viewed apparitions of the Virgin Mary. The visions took place on the former site of a temple to the Aztec mother god, Tonatzin. After being repeatedly dismissed by the local congregation while recalling what he had experienced, Mary provided Juan Diego with a sign that moved the Bishop and compelled him to build a church on the site. The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is today a Mexican national shrine and an important pilgrimage site for Catholics. The latest incarnation of the structure housing holy relics from Saint Juan Diego was completed in 1976.

Just over a decade later in 1987, the Heinz family purchased 50 acres of farmland in Windsor, Ohio. Ed and Pat Heinz—along with their nine children—worked to fix up the historic home and land, but financial misfortune forced them to leave the property in 1990. The family relocated to England while following Ed’s career which included a background in nuclear engineering. The bank, meanwhile, spent two years trying to sell the farm and eventually found a buyer who then optioned it back to the Heinzes'. They credited the return of the land, a spot always intended for worship and outreach, to their devout faith. After a series of events that the Heinzes' believed were divinely inspired, a priest consecrated the farm as the Servants of Mary Center for Peace. The center’s website provides a more detailed telling of the story including all of the spiritually inspired instances.

The newly established center began hosting events in 1992. After asking a guest speaker who had “a great devotion of Our Lady of Guadalupe” to tour the property, the Heinzes' found a spot upon which to build a shrine to the Virgin Mother. A Texas-based sculptor named Richard Hyslin eventually offered to donate his services. Throughout the summer of 1994, Hyslin and his crew began building the statue. Per the website, it’s constructed of “a special formulation of concrete sprayed over a steel mesh frame.” After curing, “450,000 colored 1” mosaic tiles” were added along with the “stainless steel rays” that protrude out of the statue.

The Servants of Mary Center of Peace would continue to grow in the years since the statue rose up. For over two decades, it’s long been a site for Catholic faithful and curious passersby. Events are still held there and the grounds are open to visitors. The Center’s mission statement reads: “To provide a Spiritual Sanctuary for the glorification of God and to spread the word delivered through the teachings of His son Jesus and the actions of His most humble and faithful servant Mary.”

While this particular edifice of the Mother of God was inspired by faithful devotion rather than divine apparition, the Center’s website does make mention of “The Miracle Picture,” a printed photograph of the Mary statue hanging in the gift shop where one day—visitors saw the reflection of Jesus.

You can read that story here.

I have not yet seen him in any of my prints, though.

View the other entires in 35mm Ohio