Spiritual Direction in Cloistered/Contemplative Communities

[I<3BVM]

Hello, everyone!  I am new to the phorum.  At least, I'm a new registered user.   I've been poking around here now and then for awhile.

I am just wondering if anyone has insights on spiritual direction in religious communities, particularly in cloistered/contemplative communities.  I've been told on the one hand that the novice master/mistress is really only responsible for the "external forum," and that there needs to be a separation of the interior and exterior forums, such that novitiate members should be permitted to speak with outside priests to receive direction.  However, I know that this is not the case in all religious communities.  Some communities consider outsiders to be unsuitable for spiritual direction because they can't fully understand the life of the community (which I think is true enough), and the novice master/mistress may be concerned about losing some control over formation.

What is normal and/or most appropriate?  I have talked to a priest (who was a member of a religious order) who was concerned that limiting access to priests for novitiate members may be a violation of canon law and is a matter of freedom of conscience, but I've also been told by a nun (who is very orthodox, traditional, and by no means an extremist) that spiritual direction simply has to be kept in-house because outsiders can't understand the level of faith needed to live cloistered life. (She didn't mean it at all as a slight against priests, and she was speaking under the assumption that a monk-priest would not be available.  And she did agree that priests could be consulted by novitiate members on a limited basis, such as the retreat master during the community's annual retreat, but not regularly or upon request.)

I have read (I believe it was in canon law) that the novice master/mistress should be allowed to remain in control of formation (or something to that effect).  But I read in another document (here) about those in formation needing to respect the roles of the spiritual director and confessor.

Any thoughts on this?

Edited January 10, 2017 by I<3BVM
Grammatical error

[bardegaulois]

Canon 630 §1 While safeguarding the discipline of the institute, Superiors are to acknowledge the freedom due to the members concerning the sacrament of penance and the direction of conscience.

§2 Superiors are to take care, in accordance with the institute's own law, that the members have suitable confessors available, to whom they may confess frequently.

§3 In monasteries of cloistered nuns, in houses of formation, and in large lay communities, there are to be ordinary confessors, approved by the local Ordinary after consultation with the community. There is however, no obligation to approach these confessors.

§4 Superiors are not to hear the confessions of their subjects unless the members spontaneously request them to do so.

§5 The members are to approach their superiors with trust and be able to open their minds freely and spontaneously to them. Superiors, however, are forbidden in any way to induce the members to make a manifestation of conscience to themselves.

That's the law as it stands. Spiritual direction often coincides with sacramental confession and is something very different from novice formation. You'll see Canon 630 here stresses the superiors' role in seeing that avenues by which those under their charge might exercise their freedoms regarding spiritual direction and penance are safeguarded, and restricts superiors from directing the souls of their own community and hearing their confessions. The formation of a novice in the ways, discipline, and charism of an institute, however, is looked at as something rather different from the spiritual direction you seem to be asking about.

[I<3BVM]

Thanks for the response.  I appreciate the reference!  I guess the only thing that is giving me some difficulty in interpretation is the phrase "While safeguarding the discipline of the institute..." Seems a bit nebulous, at least to me!  Or I guess I just don't know what sort of "discipline" it could be referring to which should be safeguarded.  Maybe a discipline such as only using religious-priests instead of diocesan priests for direction, if that is the standard practice in a certain community?  I can speculate, but I just don't know for sure! 

[Hna.Caridad]

 

Hello I<3BVM!

I just wanted to say "welcome to Phatmass"!  (There used to be an emoticon that said that & now I can't find it!)

The link below is to a thread that is bigger than your original question, yet touches on it.  It's a timeless thread that many discerners have found helpful. (I'm having trouble inserting the link.  If it doesn't work, do a search on "15 signs of trouble phatmass vocation station" & it will most likely be the first link that appears.)

I hope this is helpful.  May God bless you on your journey!

http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/104771-15-signs-of-trouble/

 

 

[miserere]

I can't to speak to what is "normal", but I know of a community that perceived spiritual direction as more of a listening to the Holy Spirit as He speaks to the soul throughout the day, which wouldn't require regular meetings with a spiritual director. So they didn't have official spiritual directors for the nuns, although of course one could talk to the confessor. The community was very careful about the internal/external forum; one could ask to speak to a priest, and letters to/from priests were unopened/unread in case they had to do with conscience matters. If a member of the novitiate wanted to speak to the novice mistress regarding the internal forum, she could, but it was totally up to her. The sense was that of the novice mistress saying, "I am allowed to hear what you want to tell me, even if it belongs to the internal forum, so I won't keep you from doing so." I don't know if that helps answer your question, but that's at least one approach to spiritual direction and the internal/external forum in a cloistered community.

[Dominican.Nuns.Menlo]

Our spiritual director is actually the Holy Spirit but God works through other people so spiritual directors are very helpful! …so are superiors but they definitely have separate roles and functions that contribute to the total well-being of the sisters.

In any religious order, a novice mistress or any superior is not to induce the sisters in any way to make manifestation of conscience to her; however, the novice mistress' or superior's attitude should be such that the sisters may be able to open their hearts to her freely and spontaneously...and in confidence.

As novice mistress, I see the value of spiritual direction as it has helped me (I had a Jesuit spiritual director for a long time and he helped save my religious vocation and sanity!) Our monastery encourages the sisters, especially our sisters in formation to have a spiritual director.  While it is true that most priests do not know about the cloister life or even about community life, they have training in the realm of spiritual life in general and can offer the sisters valuable insights (and unbiased views), such as how to improve /make progress in their moral/spiritual life. It is better, of course, that if one lives in community, one should have a spiritual director that knows about the struggles and joys of community life so that he can better help the sister under his care. The same idea goes with any other aspects of the charism of the order, if that makes any sense.

When selecting a spiritual director, it is also good to find someone who is well-educated (as St. Teresa of Avila advised, and yes, she had spiritual directors too!) A good spiritual director will always refer the sister back to her own superior with regard to how to live monastic life according to the rules, i.e. the vow of obedience, etc. But when the sister has other issues with regard to her spiritual life, she may find that it’s more helpful to speak to her spiritual director and she should be allowed to do just that!

God bless you!

[Sister Leticia]

Dominican nun - I'm glad to see your community uses and values spiritual directors, but you only referred to using priests - and it sounds like diocesan priests, as you said they lack experience of community life. Is there a reason why you don't use religious sisters or brothers, many of whom have had specific training and experience in spiritual direction, and also most definitely understand and live vowed religious life in community?

A couple of my own sisters are or have been SDs to Carmelites and Cistercians. Obviously, their understanding of monastic life is limited, but - in addition to their training and experience in SD - they bring many years experience of living a vowed commitment, of prayer, community life, formation, and so on. I would add, too, that women experience things like celibacy and relationships in community differently to men, so there's added understanding there.

[Sister Marie]

My personal preference as a religious woman is to have a woman religious as a spiritual director.  I have had two sister directors (changed due to being missioned in another place) I would be open to having a religious brother or priest too but I wouldn't see a diocesan priest.  Obviously, I have the freedom to travel for direction because I'm in an active community, but I find the wisdom and shared experiences of women religious to be necessary for my continued growth.  The sisters I've seen for Direction belong to different communities which gives me the freedom to share about my experiences in community and ministry in relation to my spiritual life.  I don't have to worry that one day I might live with this person.

For me, even the most spiritually knowledgeable diocesan priest will struggle to understand the dynamics, emotions, and spiritual implications of community living within a religious community.  I know a lot of wonderful diocesan priests and have had conversations about religious life and community life with them.  I haven't met one yet who "gets it" for lack of a better phrase.

This is just my own personal experience but I often only hear of priests for spiritual Direction and I feel badly about that.  Not all priests are good SDs and there are many religious men and women who have studied it, practiced it extensively, and engage in ongoing training and supervision to provide quality direction based on professional best practices and guidelines.  They are treasures, especially for those in religious life.

[Spem in alium]

3 hours ago, Sister Marie said:

My personal preference as a religious woman is to have a woman religious as a spiritual director.  I have had two sister directors (changed due to being missioned in another place) I would be open to having a religious brother or priest too but I wouldn't see a diocesan priest.  Obviously, I have the freedom to travel for direction because I'm in an active community, but I find the wisdom and shared experiences of women religious to be necessary for my continued growth.  The sisters I've seen for Direction belong to different communities which gives me the freedom to share about my experiences in community and ministry in relation to my spiritual life.  I don't have to worry that one day I might live with this person.

For me, even the most spiritually knowledgeable diocesan priest will struggle to understand the dynamics, emotions, and spiritual implications of community living within a religious community.  I know a lot of wonderful diocesan priests and have had conversations about religious life and community life with them.  I haven't met one yet who "gets it" for lack of a better phrase.

This is just my own personal experience but I often only hear of priests for spiritual Direction and I feel badly about that.  Not all priests are good SDs and there are many religious men and women who have studied it, practiced it extensively, and engage in ongoing training and supervision to provide quality direction based on professional best practices and guidelines.  They are treasures, especially for those in religious life.

Ditto to Sister Marie. My preference is a woman religious as my director. My current director (with whom I've been journeying the last two years or so) is from a different congregation and I feel I can talk to her freely and openly about my spiritual growth and about how I'm navigating community life. As I'm also currently progressing through the formation process with my sisters, my formator also encourages me to speak with her when I feel it's appropriate. My regular confessor is a religious priest and he also offers wonderful guidance and encouragement. I completely agree that a diocesan priest, even the most knowledgeable, will find it difficult to understand community living. There's just so much at work there that's difficult for anyone outside of it or unfamiliar with it to really grasp.