Transcript Lecture XIX: Secondary Means (Internal and External) for

Spiritual Direction
An Introductory Course
for Priests, Deacons, and
Candidates
Community of Jesus Crucified
Our Lady of Sorrows Retreat
Center
Fr. Michael Champagne, CJC
Tentative Schedule
• January 22 Introduction to Nature and
Need
for Spiritual Direction
• January 29 Some Guiding Principles in
Giving and Seeking
Spiritual
Direction
• February 5 Using Well the Means to
Holiness (at Knight Hall
Fatima)
• February 12 Understanding the
Supernatural
Organism –
Schedule (cont.)
• February 19
or
Palermo)
• February 26
• March 5
• March 12
Progressing
Directing a Person who is
Discerning the Priesthood
Religious Life (Fr. Joe
Pastoral Counseling and Spiritual
Direction: Respecting Differences
(Mario Sacasa, Ed.S, LMFT)
No Class (Priestly Association)
Learning to Pray and
in Prayer
Schedule (cont.)
• March 19
• March 26
Direction
The Role of Actual Grace in the
Spiritual Life
Dealing with Extraordinary
Phenomena in Spiritual
Select Questions
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•
•
•
•
What is Spiritual Direction?
Is Spiritual Direction necessary?
Why does one need Spiritual Direction?
Is Spiritual Direction spoken of in the Bible?
What do the Saints say about Spiritual
Direction?
• What does the Church say about Spiritual
Direction?
• What are the differences between Counseling
and Spiritual Direction?
• Is there a difference between the Office of
Confessor and the Office of Spiritual
Director?
• What are the technical qualities of a good
Spiritual Director?
• What are the moral qualities of a good
Director?
• What are some of the duties of the
Spiritual Director?
• What are the qualities to be expected in
the one directed?
• What are some classes of directees where
good spiritual direction is crucial?
• How does one choose a Spiritual Director?
• When is it advisable/permissible to change
directors?
• Can one consult a number of spiritual
directors?
• Can I do spiritual direction in cyberspace?
• What are some solid resources on
Spiritual Direction?
• What is Spiritual Direction?
– Definition: “the art of leading souls
progressively from the beginning of
the spiritual life to the height of
Christian perfection” (Royo, 593).
• it is an art – a practical science
• it is progressive – according to the
strength and disposition of the soul
directed
• it is oriented toward the perfection of
the Christian life
• Is Spiritual Direction necessary?
– Not absolutely necessary,
morally necessary
» Not needed if one is not
serious about living the
spiritual life – waste of
director’s time
» most saints had a director or
someone who gave them
spiritual counsel
Why does one need it?
• Necessity of a “third” person
–
–
–
–
To be an observer
For objectivity
“Dose of reality”
God uses mediator
• More knowledge and experience in a guide
– To diagnose where you are
– To lead you to the “next step”
– Part of Prudence to seek counsel
• Merit of humility and obedience
– Protection from the pitfalls of self and the devil
Is it in the Bible?
• Eccl. 4:10 “If the one falls, the other will help
the fallen one. But woe to the solitary person!
If that one should fall, there is no other to
help.”
• Tobit 4:18 “Seek counsel from every wise
man, and do not think lightly of any advice
that can be useful.”
• Sirach 32:18-19 “The thoughtful man will not
neglect direction…Do nothing without
counsel, and then you need have no
regrets.”
What do the Saints say about Spiritual
Direction?
• “To believe that one does not need
counsel is a great pride” St. Basil
• “Do not be your own master and do
not set out upon a way that is entirely
new for you without a guide; otherwise
you will soon go astray” (St. Jerome)
• “As a blind man cannot follow the
good road without a leader, no one
can walk without a guide” (St.
Augustine)
– “He who constitutes himself his own
director, becomes the disciple of a fool”
(St. Bernard)
– “Our Lord, without whom we can do
nothing, will never grant His grace to
one who, having at his disposition a
man capable of instructing and directing
him, neglects this powerful means of
sanctification, believing that he is
sufficient to himself and that he can by
his own powers seek and find the things
useful to salvation” (St. Vincent Ferrer)
– John of the Cross, Living Flame of Love,
• Teresa of Avila, Book of Life, c. 4 “I had no
master—I mean, no confessor—who
understood me, though I sought for such a
one for twenty years afterwards: which did
me much harm, in that I frequently went
backwards, and might have been even
utterly lost; for, anyhow, a director would
have helped me to escape the risks I ran
of sinning against God.”
• Francis de Sales, Introduction to a Devout Life, Bk.
I, c. 4 “A faithful friend,” we are told in Holy
Scripture, “is a strong defense, and he that hath
found such an one hath found a treasure;” and
again: “A faithful friend is the medicine of life; and
they that fear the Lord shall find him.” These sacred
words have chiefly reference, as you see, to the
immortal life, with a view to which we specially
need a faithful friend, who will guide us by his
counsel and advice, thereby guarding us against
the deceits and snares of the Evil One:—he will be
as a storehouse of wisdom to us in our sorrows,
trials and falls; he will be as a healing balm to stay
and soothe our heart in the time
of spiritual sickness,—he will shield us from evil,
and confirm that which is good in us, and when we
What about the
Magisterium?
“It is part of the ordinary law that
as God in His Providence has
ordained that men for the most
part should be saved by men, so
He has appointed that those
whom He calls to a higher degree
of holiness should be guided
thereto by men” (Pope Leo XIII,
Testem benevolentiae, Jan. 22, 1899)
“Moreover, it should be added that those
who strive to sanctify themselves, by the
very fact that they strive to follow a way
that is little frequented, are more exposed
to deceive themselves and therefore they,
more than others, need a doctor and
guide. And this method of procedure has
always been seen in the Church. This
doctrine was unanimously taught by all
those who, in the course of centuries,
flourished in wisdom and sanctity. And
those who reject it shall not do so without
temerity and danger” (Pope Leo XIII,
Testem benevolentiae, Jan. 22, 1899)
Is Spiritual Direction addressed in
Recent Magisterial Documents?
• Optatam Totius (1965) par. 3, 19
• Codex Iuris Canonici (1983) par.
239.2, 240.2
• Pastores Dabo Vobis (1992) par.
40.3, 50.4, 66.1, 66.4, 81.3
• Catechism of the Catholic Church
(1992) par. 1435, 2690, 2695
• Codex Iuris Canonici (1983)
– Can. 239 §2. Every seminary is to have at least
one spiritual director, though the students
remain free to approach other priests who have
been designated for this function by the bishop.
– Can. 240 §2. When decisions are made about
admitting students to orders or dismissing them
from the seminary, the opinion of the spiritual
director and confessors can never be sought.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
• 1435 Conversion is accomplished in daily
life by gestures of reconciliation, concern
for the poor, the exercise and defense of
justice and right, by the admission of faults
to one's brethren, fraternal correction,
revision of life, examination of conscience,
spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering,
endurance of persecution for the sake of
righteousness. Taking up one's cross each
day and following Jesus is the surest way
of penance.
• 2690 The Holy Spirit gives to certain of the
faithful the gifts of wisdom, faith and discernment
for the sake of this common good which is
prayer (spiritual direction). Men and women so
endowed are true servants of the living tradition
of prayer. According to St. John of the Cross,
the person wishing to advance toward perfection
should "take care into whose hands he entrusts
himself, for as the master is, so will the disciple
be, and as the father is so will be the son." And
further: "In addition to being learned and discreet
a director should be experienced. . . . If the
spiritual director has no experience of the
spiritual life, he will be incapable of leading into it
the souls whom God is calling to it, and he will
Encouragement to Priests and
Deacons to do Spiritual Direction
• “Would it be rash for us to fear that many
priests will receive a frightful shock at the
Last Judgment when they find out that
they are, to a certain extent, responsible
for the mediocrity and even the loss of
souls, because they neglected to study the
art of spiritual direction and would not take
the trouble to practice it?” (Dom Chautard,
The Soul of the Apostolate, p. 172)
• “Hardly ten in a thousand called by God to
perfection heed the call; of a hundred called to
contemplation, ninety-nine fail to respond. It
must be acknowledged that one of the principal
causes is the lack of spiritual directors. Under
God, they are the pilots who conduct souls
through this unknown ocean of the spiritual life.
If no science, no art, how simple so ever, can be
learned well without a master, much less can
anyone learn this high wisdom of evangelical
perfection, wherein such great mysteries are
found. This is the reason why I hold it morally
impossible that a soul could, without a miracle or
without a master, go through what is the highest
and most arduous in the spiritual life, without
running the risk of perishing” (Godinez, Praxis
What is the Difference between
Counseling and Spiritual Direction?
• Client-centered
• Concerned with “problem”
• About relationships with
others, self
• Seeks resolution of
emotional conflict
• Personal well-being is
desired result
• Self = center of person
• Relationships with others
viewed as affecting self
• God-centered
• Concerned with spiritual
progress
• About relationship with
God
• Seeks intimacy with God
• Doing God’s Will for me is
desired result
• God = center of person
• All relationships are
viewed as God-centered
Counseling
Spiritual
Direction
• “Being real” is being “in
touch with myself”
• Purpose is selfactualization
• Result is achieved
through behavior change
• By guidance and group
dynamics
• Enlightened by results of
research studies
• Frees self to enjoy
pleasures of this-world
existence
• “Being real” is opening up
to God
• Purpose is coming in
possession of God
• Result is achieved by
release of force of Grace
• By responding to actual
graces
• Enlightened by
revelations of Jesus’
Teaching
• Frees person to
encounter pleasure of
God’s Love
Counseling
Spiritual
Direction
• Protective of a strong
“ego center”
• To experience the most of
my time on earth
• To make most of what
others can mean to me
• To avoid pain and
displeasure (dis-ease)
• To love others for myself
• To love others so I can
love my “higher power”
• Displace “ego center” to
“God-within” as center
• To experience the deepest
of my reality/call
• To sacrifice myself to make
life meaningful for others
• To be unafraid to suffer for
love
• To love others as myself
• To love God so that I can
love others
Is there a Difference between the
Office of Confessor and the
Office of Spiritual Director?
– judge vs. teacher, guide, and
counselor
– fittingness of priest as director
– fittingness of same priest as
confessor and director
– obligation of priest to hear
confessions and freedom of priest
to refuse office of spiritual director
for any given soul
What are the Technical Qualities
of a Good Director?
» Learning – knowledge of
spiritual life and souls
» prudence in decisions
» clarity in counseling
» firmness in exacting
obedience
» experience
What are the Moral Qualities of a
Good Spiritual Director?
» holiness – nemo dat quod non
habet!
» Zeal for souls – Amor Christi
urget nos!
» Humility – readiness to consult
others when needed, to
prayerfully reflect and avoid
rash decisions, to receive
graces needed to be apt
director of souls
» Disinterested – “Feed my
Essentials for the Direction of Souls
(Charles Doyle, Guidance in Spiritual Direction)
•
•
•
•
Adequate Seminary Training
Manual of Spiritual Theology
Reading of the Masters
Practice of the Virtues
What are some of the Duties of a
Spiritual Director?
– to know the soul being directed
»to be a good listener
– to give instruction
– to encourage the soul
– to direct the spiritual life of the soul
– to correct defects
– to direct by progressive stages
– to observe confidentiality
– to practice what he preaches – get
direction for himself
What are Some of the Qualities that
Should be Present in the One Who seeks
Direction?
• Qualities necessary for direction
– sincerity – director should know all that
pertains to one’s spiritual life
– there is freedom in choosing the director
and freedom in discontinuing direction, but
there must be obedience with regard to
the spiritual direction received
– vow of obedience – its acceptability and
cautions
– Perseverance – give relationship time
Classes of Souls
Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard, The Soul of the Apostolate
•
Hardened in Sin
•
– Mortal sin – never or rare
– Venial sin – rarely deliberate,
fights
– Imperfections – not too concerned
– Prayer – always faithful, often
affective
– Mortal sin – stubborn persistence
– Prayer – deliberate refusal
•
Surface Christianity
– Mortal sin – trifling evil, easily
forgiven
– Prayer – mechanical and selfish
•
Mediocre Piety
– Mortal sin – weak resistance by
contrite
– Venial sin – accepts it
– Prayer – at times prays with fervor
•
Intermittent Piety
– Mortal sin – resists & avoids near
occasions and deep regrets when
happens
– Venial sin – sometimes commits
deliberate venials. Has superficial
sorrow.
– Prayer – gives up meditation
when it becomes difficult
Sustained Piety
•
Fervor
– Venial sin – never deliberate
– Imperfections – doesn’t want them
– Prayer – prolonged; affective or
simple
•
Relative Perfection
– Imperfections – energetically
guards
– Prayer – infused, faithful even with
much activity, great renunciation
•
Heroic Perfection
– Imperfections – only first impulse
– Prayer – contemplation, some
extra-ordinary phenomena,
passive purgation intense
•
Complete Sanctity
– Imperfections – hardly apparent
Points to be taken up in the
Direction of Beginners
(Dom Chautard, The Soul of the Apostolate, p.
180)
• Peace
• High Ideal
• Prayer
• Self-Denial
“All the essentials of direction
come down to these four
Peace
• “Find out if the soul has genuine peace,
not simply the peace which the world
gives, or the peace that results from
absence of struggle. If it has none, try to
give the soul a relative peace, in spite of
all its difficulties. This is the foundation of
all direction. Calmness, recollection, and
confidence also come in here.”
A High Ideal
• “As soon as you have collected enough
material to clarify the soul and to
recognize its weak points, as well as its
strength of character and temperament
and its degree of striving for perfection,
find out the best means of reviving its
desire to live more seriously for Jesus
Christ and of breaking down the obstacles
which hinder the development of grace in
it. In a word, what we want here is to get
the soul to aim higher and higher all the
Prayer
• “Find out how the soul prays, and in
particular, analyze its degree of fidelity to
mental prayer, its method of mental prayer,
the obstacles met with, and the profit
drawn from it. What value does it get out
of the Sacraments, the liturgical life,
particular devotions, ejaculatory prayers,
and the practice of the presence of God?”
Self-Denial
• “Find out on what point, and especially
how the particular examen is made, and in
what manner self-denial is practiced,
whether through hatred of sin or love of
God. How well is custody of the heart
kept: in other words, what amount of
vigilance is there in the spiritual combat,
and in preserving the spirit of prayer
throughout the day?”
Some Points for Consideration
• Boundaries
– Not friend, but director
• Recreation, vacations, socialization
• Superior in office
– Appropriate times and places
– Young directors and directing of women
– Use of discretion in assuming direction and
discontinuing direction
Best man, not the Bridegroom
– Jesus to first Pope: “Feed my sheep; tend my
lambs”
– Like at Annunciation, action of Holy Spirit
essential on both parties, but relationship is
between God and soul
– Avoid cultivating a dependence
– Limit time and frequency of visits
– Use obedience sparingly yet demand
responsivity
– Respect the integrity of the directee’s intellect
• Spiritual Direction Relationship is Mutually
Free
– Not all requests should be granted
• Young associate
• Busy pastor
• Retired priest
– Not always a fit
• Need to keep objective in my judgment and giving
direction
• Someone of a different spirituality is often a good
fit
• Suggest a 3-month/3-session trial
• Confidentiality
– “The spiritual director is obligated to observe absolute
secrecy in regard to the confidences he has received
from the persons he directs, not only because many
of these things are in some way connected with the
internal forum, but also because the office of spiritual
director obligates him to natural secrecy. The
obligation to secrecy is especially important when it is
a question of advanced souls who have experienced
certain extraordinary phenomena and supernatural
charisms. Although a director who comes into contact
with such phenomena may have a strong inclination
to discuss these things, he should remember that, as
a rule, the narration of such things does nothing more
than arouse morbid curiosity in others and dispose
the director himself to feelings of pride and selfcomplacency” (J. Aumann, Spiritual Theology).
Catechism on Professional Secrets (CCC
2491)
• Professional secrets - for example, those of
political office holders, soldiers, physicians, and
lawyers - or confidential information given under
the seal of secrecy must be kept, save in
exceptional cases where keeping the secret is
bound to cause very grave harm to the one who
confided it, to the one who received it or to a
third party, and where the very grave harm can
be avoided only by divulging the truth. Even if
not confided under the seal of secrecy, private
information prejudicial to another is not to be
divulged without a grave and proportionate
What are some classes of
directees where direction is
crucial?
• Young man or woman discerning a
vocation
• A beginner in the spiritual life coming off a
conversion retreat or weekend needing
help in entering into the spiritual life
• Person experiencing strong temptations
and/or scruples
• Person in transition toward illuminative
way (passive night of sense)
• Person in transition toward unitive way
(passive night of spirit)
Some Other Related Questions about
Spiritual Direction
– How does one choose a Director?
– Can I change my Director? And if
so when is it
permissible/advisable?
» useless direction
» harmful direction (“Bad direction
is worse than no direction”)
– Can one have a number of
spiritual directors?
– Can I do spiritual direction by
What are Some Resources on
Spiritual Direction?
• Garrigou-Lagrange, Reginald. The Three Ages
of the Interior Life, vol. I, pp. 256-264.
• Parente, Pascal. Spiritual Direction. Abbey
Press, 1950.
• Doyle, Charles. Guidance in Spiritual Direction.
Newman Press, 1959.
• Royo, Antonio and Jordan Aumann. The
Theology of Christian Perfection, pp. 593-614.
• Dubay, Thomas. Seeking Spiritual Direction.
Servant Books, 1993.
• Aumann, Jordan. Spiritual Theology, pp. 380398.