Hearing the Voice of God: The Supernatural Phenomenon of Interior Locution

Abstract

Hearing a divine voice is a type of supernatural experience recognised in religions the world over. In Catholicism, a handful of saints and blesseds have reported experiencing locutions while some mystics have conducted theological inquiry into these divine communications. Locutions are not confined to the history books but continue as private revelation, a recent example being the locutions of Derrick Taylor which acted as the case study in this research. An English convert and post-conciliar traditionalist, Mr Taylor claimed to experience two sessions of locution during his lifetime (first in 1971 and again in 1978), both addressing his disillusionment with the Church hierarchy during the implementation of reforms to the Tridentine liturgy after the Second Vatican Council. The first was a locution brought about by the intermediation of the Sacred Heart while the second was spoken by the voice of a deceased priest who had been Mr Taylor’s confessor. Deconstructing each of Mr Taylor’s locutionary accounts and comparing them to past reports of locution tested them according to criteria established by mystics to help ascertain their authenticity.