spiritual direction

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='Cam42' date='Sep 2 2005, 11:11 AM']Here is the deal....

A spiritual director is like a counselor on Catholicism.  You discuss your faith, how to deepen it, how to mature it, how to make you stronger in the faith.

He often times is your confessor, as you should be open with him totally.

You should share your wonders, hopes, fears, desires, needs and wants, regard to the Church.  It is a place to be totally open.

It is considered part of the private forum as is the confessional, although it is not under the seal of confession.

As for finding one, you should be very discerning.  You should find a priest that you are comfortable with and ask him for a reference.  I would shy away from having any priestly friends as your director, it should be someone that you can be open with in a way that is not friendly, but honest, in a spiritually mature kind of way.  If the priest is a friend, there may be a familiarity there that can impede the process.

There are priests who specialize in spiritual direction.  Personally, I go to an Opus Dei priest, but there are many others out there......

Good luck and God Bless.
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Thanks for the info. I really don't know many priests and feel funny asking anyone. I'll pray more about it though and hopefully God can lead someone into my life, or at least lead me to them.

[prose]

I was reccomended a book about spiritual direction. I will look for the name of it for you.

I am struggling with this too. It is such a major decision. I am not going to my parish priest b/c I work at the Church, and although it works for some people, for myself, I find it uncomfortable.

I really would like to find one. I will pray for you. Please pray for me. Maybe then we can both find the directors that we need

[DeeDee]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Sep 2 2005, 09:18 AM']All I know is your not supposed to wear a hairshirt without the guidance of a good SD...
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You have 11,000 posts??????

[FlyLikeABird]

Ask your local diocesan vocations office. They should have a list of qualified, good spiritual directors. They may even be able to direct you to particular ones based on who you are (tell them a little bit about yourself and why you want a SD).

Sometimes word of mouth can be excellent, other times awful. I found one of my english Profs to be excellent wen word of mouth said she was awful. Same with SDs, I really liked one person as a SD but was introduced to another SD who I found to be even better for me so I transferred over.

[Fides_et_Ratio]

Should you choose to get a spiritual director...

I'd recommend off campus. My attempts on campus all failed miserably. It was a terrible experience and only made it all the more harder when my previous spiritual director left for Rome.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='DeeDee' date='Sep 2 2005, 12:00 PM']You have 11,000 posts??????
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That's what my husband said the last time he logged on...

[ForHimAlone]

I just had my first spiritual direction session today. I've been praying for a Director for so long, and I just knew the first time I saw this priest that he was the one who was supposed to direct my soul. Today we began off with a prayer. Then we just had an hour-long discussion where he asked me questions regarding my prayer life, my discernment, and my relationship with God. He's going to get me started with the Ignatian Exercises and the St. Louis de Montfort Consecration to Mary.

Just take it to prayer. God will bring you to the Priest who is to be your guide. It's very important to find the right one!

[philothea]

[quote name='Myles' date='Sep 2 2005, 07:17 AM'][quote]For this purpose choose one out of a thousand, as Avila says. For my part, I say one out of ten thousand, for there are fewer men than we realize who are capable of this task. He must be full be charity, knowledge, and prudence, and if any one of these three qualities is lacking there is danger. [b]I tell you again, ask God for him[/b], and having once found him, bless his Divine Majesty, stand firm, and do not look for another, but go forward with simplicity, humility, and confidence for you will make a most prosperous journey[/quote]
--St Francis de Sales, Introduction to the devout life, first part chapter 4

Listen to the saint. First pray and then go and find a priest that can act as your spiritual guide. Its that simple. I got my spiritual director through my parish priest I'm sure you can too although there are other ways, you could seek out a spiritual director from a certain religious order etc.
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God sure can take a long time about answering this prayer.

[Krush2k2]

Here I found one for you on Ebay

[url="http://cgi.ebay.com/Spiritual-Direction-Spiritual-Directors-Kozlowski_W0QQitemZ4546143541QQcategoryZ378QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.com/Spiritual-Direction-Sp...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]


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[Theoketos]

To add what Cam says, your spiritual director should be the best Theologian available.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Semperviva' date='Sep 2 2005, 11:03 AM']Log out on public computers you big galoot 
- Sincerely, Brother Adam
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I've been very careful in the library, hehehe...