The Promotion of a claimed private revelation

Olive Dawson travels around, giving talks and promoting the claimed private revelation to her brother, David Smyth, who is referred to as 'the instrument'. She also claims to have receive some messages of private revelation herself. She has developed a devotion around these claimed private revelations to her brother and herself, which she promotes by the further claim that she has been given the miraculous gift to be able to live solely on the Eucharist, without any other food or drink. This claim has been very effective in convincing many of the faithful to believe in these claimed messages of private revelation and the associated devotion. Without the claim to be able to live solely on the Eucharist, Olive Dawson would have little or no following.

Lack of support for this claim

Is it true that she lives only on the Eucharist? We know that some Saints in the past have lived for long periods of time solely on the Eucharist. But the fact that this gift has been given in the past, to a few Saints, does not prove that the same gift was given to Olive Dawson.

And none of these Saints used this gift to attempt to convince the faithful to believe in a claimed private revelation. These Saints were given this gift in order to convince the faithful of the importance of true sincere devotion to Christ in the Holy Eucharist, not the importance of a claimed private revelation. All the Saints teach us to believe in what Christ teaches through His Church; any and all miracles accomplished through any Saint always points us to the teaching of the Church, not to the teachings of a claimed private revelation. But the alleged miraculous gift to Olive Dawson, to live solely on the Eucharist, is said by her and her supporters to have been given specifically to promote her brother's claimed private revelation. This claim is not in accord with the examples of the Saints.

Furthermore, the messages and devotion promoted by Olive tend to make Olive, and the messages and devotion themselves, the center of attention, not Christ, not Sacred Scripture, not the Sacraments, and not the Church. The exaltation of any claimed private revelation above the true Gospel of Jesus, the son of God, is always a sin and always contrary to the will of God. The messages promoted by Olive in a book called "All Through Mary" even present the claim that this book is greater than any book in the history of the Church; neither the Bible nor the many books written by Saints are said to be greater than this book of claimed private revelation. See this article on Olive Dawson and the messages to her brother, David Smyth. But as for me, there is no sign or wonder or claim great enough to make me believe anything contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Olive Dawson claims to have lived solely on the Eucharist since September 1999. But there is no proof to support this claim. She could be taking food and drink at night, when she is alone. We have no way of knowing that she has abstained from all food and drink other than the Eucharist. She must abstain from food and drink during the day, if there are other people around or if she is out in public. But as we will see below, she has found a way to take bodily food and drink during the day.

We are asked to believe in the messages to her brother based on her claim to live only on the Eucharist. But her claim cannot be proven to be true. No one should believe the messages of a claimed private revelation on the basis of another claim, one that cannot be proven. It would be rash and foolish for any faithful Catholic to assume that a set of claimed messages are true based on another claim that cannot be proven true. We should believe what the Church teaches, and not give credence to a claimed private revelation based on another unsubstantiated claim that the person promoting the messages supposedly has some special gift.

Finally, as will be shown below, serious allegations have been made that Olive Dawson has committed grave violations of Canon Law and Church teaching concerning the Eucharist. If these reports are true, it is very unlikely that she has a gift from God to live solely on the Eucharist. God did not give such a gift to most of the Saints; only to a select few of the Saints. He would not give the gift of living solely on the Eucharist to someone who abuses that Most Blessed Sacrament.

Violation of Church Law on the Eucharist

Church law on the Eucharist:

Can. 917 A person who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist can receive it a second time on the same day only within the eucharistic celebration in which the person participates, without prejudice to the prescript of can. 921, §2.

Can. 921 §1. The Christian faithful who are in danger of death from any cause are to be nourished by holy communion in the form of Viaticum.
§2. Even if they have been nourished by holy communion on the same day, however, those in danger of death are strongly urged to receive communion again.
§3. While the danger of death lasts, it is recommended that holy communion be administered often, but on separate days.

Canon 917 states that the faithful may receive the Eucharist a second time on the same day, only during a Mass or Communion service. There is no permission to receive the Eucharist more than twice in one day, nor to receive the Eucharist outside of a Mass or Communion service. Canon 921 permits members of the faithful who are in danger of death to receive the Eucharist again on the same day. But even while the danger of death persists, they are admonished to receive the Eucharist only as often as once a day.

The rule to receive the Eucharist only once a day, with some exceptions for a second reception in the same day, is not a new rule. This has long been the practice and the rule in the Church. The Baltimore Catechism taught: "One may not receive Holy Communion a second time on the same day, unless the danger of death arises, when he can receive the Blessed Sacrament as Viaticum. But one who has received the Holy Eucharist at the midnight Mass of Christmas or at the Mass of the Easter Vigil may receive again in the course of the day. These rules show the Church's desire that all Catholics partake of the Holy Eucharist frequently." (Q. 372, n. 4). But the same rules also show that repeated reception of Communion, more than one or at most twice a day, is not permitted by the Church.

It has been reported to me by more than one source that Olive Dawson regularly receives the Eucharist multiple times each day, by attending one Mass after another after another. She receives the Eucharist at each Mass. She rushes from one Mass to the next, not spending time in prayer after one Mass, in order to hurry to the next Mass. One of her former adherents has reported to me that, on at least one occasion, she attended six Masses on the same day, receiving the Eucharist at each. This behavior violates Canon Law on the reception of the Holy Eucharist, and is contrary to the longstanding practice of the Church concerning reception of the Eucharist.

She reportedly attempts to convince the priest at each Mass to allow her receive under both species, even when both species (bread and wine) are not being offered to the faithful attending that particular Mass. She uses her claim to have a special gift from God (to live solely on the Eucharist) in order to convince some priests to permit her to receive both the consecrated wine with the consecrated bread.

Why is she so anxious to move from one Mass to the next, and from one reception of the Eucharist to the next? Why must she receive under both species several times a day? She claims that this behavior is due to a hunger she has for the Eucharist; she presents this as if it were a spiritual hunger, a type of miraculous gift. But the Church teaches that one reception of Communion per day is sufficient for our spiritual needs. Many of the Saints spent much time in prayer before and after holy Communion. One reception of Communion per day is more than sufficient for any devout person. So her claim to receive the Eucharist several times a day due to spiritual hunger is not in accord with the teaching of the Church, the Law of the Church, and the example of the Saints.

When certain Saints were given the miraculous gift to live solely on the Eucharist, they needed to receive only a single host each day. For their gift was truly miraculous. Why does Olive receive several times a day, in violation of Canon Law, and under both species, even when the other members of the faithful at Mass are not offered both species? My opinion is that she is using the Most Blessed Sacrament to satisfy her bodily hunger. She must refrain from food and drink, at least during the day when other persons are around, in order to continue to exalt herself based on her claim to live only on the Eucharist. But if she has no such miraculous gift, then she would get hungry and thirsty during the day. Then, instead of eating ordinary food and drink, she satisfies her bodily hunger and bodily thirst by receiving the Eucharist under both species several times a day.

This use of the Eucharist to satisfy a mere bodily hunger is a worse abuse than merely attending multiple Masses in the same day. It is a sacrilege against the Sacrament of holy Communion for someone to consume the consecrated bread and the consecrated wine in order to fill the stomach with bodily food and drink. None of the Saints who were given the gift to live solely on the Eucharist behaved in this gravely sinful manner. For them, even one small consecrated host, without the Precious Blood, was more than sufficient. Thus, the behavior of Olive Dawson indicates that she does not have a miraculous gift, but is using the Eucharist as bodily food and drink, by multiple receptions of both species several times during the day, (and perhaps also sneaking food and drink at night).

[1 Corinthians]
{11:27} And so, whoever eats this bread, or drinks from the cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be liable of the body and blood of the Lord.
{11:28} But let a man examine himself, and, in this way, let him eat from that bread, and drink from that cup.
{11:29} For whoever eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks a sentence against himself, not discerning it to be the body of the Lord.

My opinion on this subject is supported by the report of an additional grievous offense against the Eucharist by Olive Dawson: that on many occasions she has carried around with her a small bottle of consecrated wine, that is, of the Precious Blood of Christ, to consume whenever she is thirsty, apart from Mass. She is also reported to carry with her a pix of consecrated bread, that is, of the Holy Body of Christ, to consume whenever she is hungry, apart from Mass. She does this on the flimsy excuse that she has a special miraculous hunger and thirst for the Eucharist, which causes her to consume the Holy Body and Precious Blood several times a day. But my assessment of this situation is that she is using the Eucharist as bodily food and drink, so that she can exalt herself by falsely claiming to have a miraculous gift to live solely on the Eucharist.

Carrying the Eucharist around on one's person, and consuming the Eucharist whenever one wishes, apart from any Mass or Communion service, is a serious offense under Church Law and a sacrilege against the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Church law on the Eucharist:

Can. 918 It is highly recommended that the faithful receive holy communion during the eucharistic celebration itself. It is to be administered outside the Mass, however, to those who request it for a just cause, with the liturgical rites being observed.

Can. 935 No one is permitted to keep the Eucharist on one's person or to carry it around, unless pastoral necessity urges it and the prescripts of the diocesan bishop are observed.

The faithful may consume the Eucharist outside of a Mass, only for a just cause AND in the proper liturgical rite (i.e. a Communion service, or in association with Last Rites). It is a clear and grave violation of Canon Law, and of Church teaching on the Eucharist, for someone to carry the Holy Body and Precious Blood around, to consume outside of any liturgical service, and to use as mere bodily food and drink, so as to avoid satisfying bodily hunger and thirst with ordinary food and drink, and for the purpose of perpetuating a claim to have a miraculous gift so as to promote a claimed private revelation.

Olive Dawson is an extraordinary minister of holy Communion in her home parish of Kent, England. She has access to the Eucharist. She is known to carry with her a pix filled with the consecrated bread, and a small wine bottle, apparently containing consecrated wine. She administers the Eucharist to herself, whenever she wishes from this pix and small bottle. It is not clear where she obtains the consecrated bread and consecrated wine. It is not clear whether or not any priest is aware of, or complicit in, this offense.

Olive Dawson violates Canon Law by taking the Eucharist away from Mass, under both species, to keep on her person, to carry around with her, and to administer to herself outside of any liturgical rite. She also commits a grave sacrilege by using the Eucharist as mere bodily food, both by consuming the consecrated species outside of Mass and by attending numerous Masses in order to eat and drink more food.

Although the Eucharist is sometimes lawfully taken away from the Mass and the church, by persons approved by the pastor to bring to the sick, it is not the practice of the Church to take the Precious Blood to the sick. And it has never been the practice of the Church for anyone to take the Precious Blood away from Mass, and carry the Blood around in a bottle, to use in order to quench bodily thirst. This practice is a grave violation of Church teaching and Church law, and a grave sacrilege against the Eucharist.

Her explanation for this misuse of the Precious Blood is that she gets "thirsted" (sic). She uses the word thirsty in an odd form, in order to try to represent her thirst as if it were a miraculous or special spiritual gift, one which supposedly justifies this unlawful and sacrilegious behavior. But we know from the example of two thousand years of Saints that there is no such thing as a spiritual thirst that requires someone to receive the Precious Blood several times a day, or to carrying the Precious Blood around to drink outside of Mass. The few Saints in the history of the Church who have been given the miraculous gift to live solely on the Eucharist never committed any such abuses against the Eucharist, nor did they claim to miraculously need to receive the Eucharist numerous times, under both species, in the same day.

The Eucharist is Christ Himself, under the appearances of bread and wine. To use our Lord and Savior as mere bodily food and drink is a direct and grave offense against the Person of Christ. To carry the Eucharist around, as if it were not Christ, but as if it were mere bodily food to be possessed and used, is a grave violation of Church teaching and Church law. To make a false claim to have a miraculous gift to live solely on the Eucharist, in order to exalt oneself and to promote a claimed private revelation, is also a grave offense.

Olive Dawson uses her claim to have the miraculous gift of abstaining from all food and drink, except the Eucharist, in order to exalt herself, to promote her brother David Smyth's claimed messages, and to promote the devotion that she has created. If not for this claim, she would have little or no following. She travels frequently, giving talks which are followed by the faithful lining up, as if for Communion, but instead they receive a blessing from Olive, and the opportunity to kiss a picture associated with her devotion. This video from YouTube shows a type of quasi-liturgical service which superficially resembles the Mass.

But without her claim to live only on the Eucharist, few persons would be interested in seeing her and hearing her speak, and no one would line up to receive a special blessing from her, if she were understood to be merely an ordinary lay Catholic. She needs to continue to make this claim, or she will lose all her following. And so she uses the Eucharist, under both species, to satisfy her bodily hunger and her bodily thirst, so that she can falsely claim to have a miraculous gift of living solely on the Eucharist.

Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

[107.] In accordance with what is laid down by the canons, "one who throws away the consecrated species, or takes them away or keeps them for a sacrilegious purpose, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; a cleric, moreover, may be punished by another penalty, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state" [Can. 1367].

To take away the consecrated species from Mass, in order to use as mere bodily food, in order to satisfy hunger and thirst that should be satisfied with ordinary food and drink, and worse still, in order to use to perpetuate a false claim to have a miraculous gift to live solely on the Eucharist, is a sacrilegious purpose. If Olive Dawson has committed this offense, as reported by more than one witness, then she has violated this Canon and is automatically excommunicated, and this excommunication cannot be lifted by any authority other than the Holy See.

Olive Dawson has reportedly violated this rule in the Church by removing the Precious Blood to carry around with herself in a small bottle, so that she may have a liquid to satisfy mere bodily thirst. She has violated this instruction and law also by keeping the consecrated species on her person and in her possession, for her own personal use.

[107.] Furthermore all will remember that once the distribution of Holy Communion during the celebration of Mass has been completed, the prescriptions of the Roman Missal are to be observed, and in particular, whatever may remain of the Blood of Christ must be entirely and immediately consumed by the Priest or by another minister, according to the norms, while the consecrated hosts that are left are to be consumed by the Priest at the altar or carried to the place for the reservation of the Eucharist. [General Instruction for the Roman Missal, n. 163, 284.]

[132.] No one may carry the Most Holy Eucharist to his or her home, or to any other place contrary to the norm of law. It should also be borne in mind that removing or retaining the consecrated species for a sacrilegious purpose or casting them away are graviora delicta, the absolution of which is reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The teachings and laws of the Church do not permit a layperson to take away the Precious Blood, to carry around the Precious Blood, and to consume the Precious Blood outside of a Mass or proper liturgical rite. The Precious Blood is not even permitted to be reserved in the tabernacle, but is to be "entirely and immediately consumed" at Mass. Olive has reportedly violated this instruction of the Church in a grave manner.

Furthermore, the penalty for this grave offense of taking away the consecrated species, keeping either or both species on one's person, consuming the species outside of a proper liturgical rite, and especially of using the Eucharist to satisfy mere bodily hunger and thirst repeatedly throughout the day, is automatic excommunication reserved to the Holy See (specifically, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith).

Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela
The Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II, by which are promulgated Norms concerning the more grave delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Art. 2 § 1. The delicts against the sanctity of the Most Holy Sacrifice and Sacrament of the Eucharist, reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for judgment are: 1º the taking or retaining for a sacrilegious purpose, or the throwing away of the consecrated species mentioned in can. 1367 of the Code of Canon Law and in can. 1442 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches….

Summary

Only a few holy persons, who had a great love and devotion to the Eucharist, have ever been given the miraculous gift to live solely on the Eucharist. None of these Saints misused or abused the Eucharist in any way; none of these holy persons committed the least offense against the Eucharist, nor against Church law and teaching on the Eucharist. But Olive Dawson has committed grave offenses against the Eucharist, and against Church law and teaching on the Eucharist. Therefore, she could not possibly also have the miraculous gift to live solely on the Eucharist.

She uses the Eucharist as mere bodily food and drink, rather than as spiritual food. She attends more than one or two Masses a day, sometimes as many as six Masses in one day, in order to obtain more bodily food, so that she can avoid consuming ordinary food, and in order to exalt herself by the false claim of a miraculous gift to live solely on the Eucharist.

At times, she has carried around with her a pix of the Holy Body and a small bottle of the Precious Blood, to eat when she is hungry and to drink when she is thirsty. She has repeatedly used the Most Holy Eucharist, which is Christ Himself under the appearances of bread and wine, to satisfy mere bodily hunger and thirst. She has reportedly violated the laws of the Church on the Eucharist to such a grave extent as to carry the penalty of automatic excommunication reserved to the Holy See.

How does she live, to all appearances, with no food or drink other than the Eucharist? One way is by using the Eucharist as bodily food and drink, consuming the Eucharist under both species several times a day, during multiple Masses and even outside of any liturgical service. But since her grave offenses against the Eucharist bear witness to the false nature of her claim to have a miraculous gift, it is very likely that she also sneaks food and drink at night, or at other times when no one is watching. She must abstain from food and drink for much of the day, when other persons might see her, especially when she is traveling around with a group of persons, promoting her claimed private revelation. So she consumes the Eucharist during the day, to satisfy ordinary hunger and thirst. (And given her grave abuses of the Eucharist, the only other possible explanation for her apparent abstention from food and drink, other than taking food and drink in secret, would be the preternatural assistance of fallen angels.)

Finally, her abuses of the Eucharist, in direct contradiction to the teaching, law, and practice of the Church, can lead us to no other conclusion but that she receives the Body and Blood of Christ multiple times in the same day, during multiple Masses and outside of Mass, not out of devotion to Christ, but as a source of bodily food. And these grave sacrileges are apparently committed with the intention to support a spurious claim to possess a miraculous gift, to exalt herself, to give herself a following among the faithful, and to place herself at the head of a newly-invented devotion.

The above article on Olive Dawson is my considered theological opinion based on more than one reliable source of information, based on the teaching and law of the Church concerning the Eucharist, and based on the materials disseminated by Olive Dawson and her adherents about her various claims.



by Ronald L. Conte Jr.
September 8th, 2009