Does God Speak to His People?

Why Not?

In my life, I have heard the voice of God from time to time, and I am pretty sure that Mary spoke to me last night in the middle of the night.  But God in His three persons, and even Jesus' Mother Mary does speak to some of His people, but mainly those who slow down their lives enough and quiet them down enough to listen for the still small voice that is His (and hers).

And what do they say?  Well, they don't seem to talk about the weather, or how about them Steelers or whoever.  If the messages from Mary are authentic, and many messages have not been approved by the Holy See, so their veracity has not been tested officially, they will point us to her Son, Our Lord and Saviour.  It appears that Mary does enjoy special favour with her Son, and with the other persons of the Trinity, and why would that not be so.  Does not even your own mother have a special place in your heart, the one who brought you into this world?

And Jesus when He speaks, calls us to love God above all, love our neighbour as ourselves, and to be holy as He is holy, pretty much what He says to us in scripture, but on an even more personal level.  In fact, if the messages from Him or purported to be from Him disagreed with scripture, then the hearer and any readers of the messages should be heading for the hills, because the voice is not a friend but THE foe.

But, the other day, Stephen McElligott, the writer of the blog Loyal to the Magisterium,  written from Ireland, form which my own family descends, and therefor a notch up the Brandon reliability scale, pointed readers to a lay apostle by the moniker Anne.  Anne purports to hear the voices of the Father, Jesus, Our Blessed Mother, and some of the saints.  I say purports only because what she has written from what she has heard has not had official recognition from the Holy See, as yet.

None the less, Anne is committed to obedience to the Church, and has submitted everything that she has written to her local Bishop, Bishop Leo O’Reilly of the Diocese of Kilmore in Ireland, prior to releasing them to the public.  He takes her writings seriously, and has assigned a priest to work with her, and they jointly have submitted her writings to Rome.

Her writings are of a mother of 6, and wife, and of one who loves God and Our Blessed Mother.  Her devotion to them all has resulted in ongoing conversion in her life, and she writes about that interspersed with the words she claims to have received from them.

To date, there are 8 volumes in particular that are available to be purchased, and also to be downloaded for free from a web site committed to disseminating these works here. 

Here is what Bishop O'Reilly wrote about the lay movement that is taking place here:

To Whom It May Concern:



Direction For Our Times (DFOT) is a religious movement founded by “Anne,” a lay apostle from our diocese who wishes to remain anonymous. The movement is in its infancy and does not as yet enjoy canonical status. I have asked a priest of the diocese, Fr. Darragh Connolly, to assist in the work of the movement and to ensure that in all its works and publications it remains firmly within the teaching and practice of the Catholic Church.


I have known “Anne,” the founder of the movement, for several years. She is a Catholic in good standing in the diocese, a wife and mother of small children, and a woman of deep spirituality. From the beginning, she has always been anxious that everything connected with the movement be subject to the authority of the Church. She has submitted all her writings to me and will not publish anything without my permission. She has submitted her writings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and I have done so, as well.


In so far as I am able to judge, she is orthodox in her writings and teaching. Her spirituality and the spiritual path that she proposes to those who wish to accept it are in conformity with the teachings of the Church and of the great spiritual writers of the past and present.


+Leo O’Reilly


Bishop of Kilmore


16 June 2006

We are invited to discern for ourselves that which is of God, and are not bound in this instance to accept as from God what is available to read here.

I am most of the way through the first volume, and what I have read has touched my heart, and is drawing me to holiness.  It so happens that starting to read these works coincides with other calls that God has been placing on me, some of which I have tried to ignore, or in trying to follow have fouled up beyond all recognition (FUBAR).  There is even encouragement for those of us who try and fail and those who try not to try and fail from Jesus in the writings, meant to prevent discouragement.

Have a look and see if they touch you.  What have you got to lose?