CHAPTER TWELVE
SPIRIT VOICES IN CHURCH

On Whit Sunday, 4thJuly, 1933, with a party of friends motoring for pleasure, we came to the old village of Fingest, Bucks. We decided to pay a visit to the parish church, reputed to be one of the oldest in England. Our party numbered eight. While going over the old church, which is small and distinct in character, comments were made on its peace and harmony.

We were standing silently gazing around when we were startled to hear, coming from the, direction of the altar and somewhere above it, a male voice pronouncing a blessing. One of the party remarked, “It seems to come from the cross.” Immediately, the voice replied, “To the cross I cling.” Relating the incident afterwards, a member of the party said: “When I first heard the voice I felt afraid. I stood facing Mrs. Perriman when the voice spoke again. It was most beautiful voice, strong and cultured.”

On Whit Monday afternoon, it was decided to visit an other old church in the district. No demonstration occurred. However, one of our party, a woman gifted with clairvoyance, mentioned that she had seen an old priest, clothed in cream robes, who said to her, “The blessing of the Church Triumphant be upon you, my children.”

We left and, after some discussion, decided to visit the old church at Fingest again. There was no one in the churchyard when we entered the church, and remembering all that had happened the previous day we walked with even more reverence and quiet. The simple old structure was filled with a sense of peace and harmony. So intense was the silence it felt as if we had been transported away from civilisation. We wandered around for a moment or two, looking at and admiring the furnishings.

The clairvoyant member of the party and my wife moved towards the altar steps. A cord was thrown across to prevent the public trespassing beyond the choir. The rest of us sat down directly behind.

We were all engaged in prayer when from the altar a voice, deep and resonant, spoke in an unmistakable man’s tones. Though we could not catch all the words uttered, we distinctly heard, “God bless and keep you all till we meet again.” There was a short silence and the voice spoke again, as though concluding a service. Then another voice said reverently, “Amen.” The hush was so great that we felt we did not want to move.

The woman who was clairvoyant told us that she saw a man in a beautiful blue robe with a cape attached to the shoulders, and that he had uttered the prayer. There was another old man, bent in form, clothed in a plain dark cassock, who said in a deep voice, “Amen.” After a minute or two, we rose from our seats and made quietly towards the door. Just as we were about to leave, a voice spoke from above our heads saying, “God bless you all.”

We got into the cars bound for home. Discussing the happenings, our clairvoyant referred to the delight it must have given the communicators to be able to speak again in the old church, and how grateful we should be for our experience. As she ended her comments the voice of a spirit relative chipped in, saying, “Yes.” This woman recognised his voice immediately, and from then on he conversed with his mother and her, and answered questions put to him by my wife. The spirit speaker confirmed what she had seen clairvoyantly, and gave the year 1405 as being connected with the voice that had spoken to us.

It so happened that this woman had taken from the church one of its small pamphlets recording its known history. On looking at the pamphlet, among the priests officiating at that time, the nearest date being 1406, she found two names. Before she bad time to say any more, her spirit relative chimed in, “Skinner is the name. It is the second name in connection with that date.” This we found to be correct when we examined the pamphlet. Continuing, she told him of the old priest she had seen in the other church, and he confirmed it before she had time to deal with the incident

It is interesting to note that on the way to the church this lady had heard psychically the following message: “You are to receive a demonstration that you will never forget.” She did not mention this message to anyone. As she said: “When leaving the first church visited, I thought, can this message refer to anything happening today, for nothing of particular import has occurred except the glimpse of the old priest I think you will admit that the message was faithfully fulfilled, for I certainly shall not forget the wonderful voice that breathed upon us the blessing in the old church at Fingest.