Spiritual Direction

[Guest Guest]

I have a few questions:

1) What exactly is Spiritual Direction?

3) How do you do it? What kinds of things to you tell/say to the Priest? Or what kinds of things are you supposed to ask?

4) Is it supposed to be done in conjunction with Confession or not? If it can be, has this been the traditional mode of doing such? Or has that come along within recent times (since recently some Priests have been having Confession face to face instead of using a Confessional)? Thanks.

[BLAZEr]

1. Spiritual Direction is a process of dialogue, counsel, and direction in spiritual matters in the life of a novice in the spiritual life by a person who is advanced in the Spiritual life.

2. It's something like confession. You go to your spiritual director, tell them about your spiritual life, the way you pray, your challenges in prayer. They help you to grow in your prayer life and in virtue. This can include (and probably should) talking about your struggle with sin and the universal call to holiness.

3. It should not be done at the same time as confession, it is something different than Confession. My Opus Dei spiritual director in New York used to give me spiritual direction first, then at the end hear my confession. In Chile my Opus Dei Spiritual Director started with Confession then afterwards we had spiritual direction. But they were always clear to distinguish between the two.

I recommend Opus Dei priests for spiritual direction if you have one near you. They are experienced in Spiritual Direction and will help you understand its role in the Spiritual Life.