An interior locution is a form of private revelation, but is distinct from an apparition, or religious vision.
An interior locution may be defined as "A supernatural communication to the ear, imagination, or directly to the intellect.
"[3] According to William Meninger OCSO, the fifth vision of Julian of Norwich came in the form of an interior locution which she heard "clearly in her heart though not a word is spoken.
In spiritual or intellectual locutions God imprints what he is about to say in the depths of the spirit: there is no sound or voice, or either corporeal or imaginative representation of such, but an expression of (certain) concepts in the depths of the spirit and in the faculty of understanding...[5]It was an interior locution that reportedly led Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows to enter religious life.
Francis attended the procession and as the image passed by him, he felt an interior voice asking why he remained in the world.