Desire for spiritual direction, long a lesser known part of Catholic tradition, is also growing, says Sister of Charity of Cincinnati Mary Ann Flannery, executive director of the Jesuit Retreat House in Parma.

"I have no way of actually measuring this, because many people avail themselves of direction through parish ministry staff, monasteries or convents," she said. "Interestingly though, a wonderful addition to this practice is that the population of lay people prepared to give spiritual direction is also growing."

Spiritual direction is the guidance of a person, or guidance together, to find a deeper spirituality in the person's soul, to find for them a way to get to a practice of deeper spirituality, Sister Flannery says.

Joan Nuth directs the Ignatian Spirituality Institute at John Carroll University, which has certified 42 spiritual directors since its inception in 2003. Currently, 26 more directors are in formation at the institute. Nuth calls spiritual direction "an ecclesial ministry" which means it is "connected to the Church."

Nuth explains direction consists of two Christians sitting together, with one acting as a companion and a guide to the other.

"The directee shares about his or her life with God," she says. "The director acts as a companion with someone as they process their life with God." "I certainly think people today are hungry for some kind of deep spiritual reality in their lives," she says. "Spiritual direction gives them a chance to find that."

She says working with a spiritual director can be an eye-opener to many people who have never learned to find the material for prayer from scripture. "People are amazed you can pray with scripture. They've always seen scripture as something you read and study," she says. When people start having the experience of finding God's word for them in scripture, it's illuminating for them. It changes their lives to have that asset."

Nuth finds the experience of directing a person "extremely amazing and edifying." 

"I am constantly amazed about how God works in lives of people," she says. "It's a very privileged place to be in that sort of relationship with someone."

A practicing spiritual director for more than 20 years, Nuth also directs the Ignatian retreat, an intense experience of praying with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a 15th century Spanish mystic who founded the Jesuit Order. This program of prayer is a series of 30 days of meditation and contemplative practice. For many years it was used mainly as a discernment tool for those considering a religious vocation. But the retreat was also designed to be made in either eight-day or thirty-week formats.

Many modern Catholics are choosing to follow the Spiritual Exercises, working with a director over the course of many weeks to process them. "When St. Ignatius Loyola constructed this system he was still a layperson," Sister Flannery says. "It's a means by which other lay people could go though what we now call spiritual direction and become more effective in the faith. The end result was always an action. The Exercises were designed in a very coordinated way to bring the average person to realize how God is working in their lives and what they can do with that knowledge. It's not enough to grow deeper and deeper, but you must act on it. Spirituality is not a "God and me" thing, it's not selfish. In fact, it's very unselfish for a person to open this personal space to a director."

Most spiritual directors see their directees once a month. They sit together and the director helps that person to recognize how God is working in his or her life. It's a prayerful process, with higher levels of understanding often coming to both participants. Action on the path God is setting out is the ultimate goal.

Sister Flannery points out that spiritual direction differs markedly from psychological counseling.
"Counseling is clinical; spiritual direction is not," she says. "A person comes to a spiritual director for guidance in the spiritual journey. They see a psychological counselor for clinical assistance in handling a problem that is psychological or pathological."

She says it's important for directors to be trained to identify the difference, and make appropriate suggestions for further evaluation. "I very much believe people have to be trained in this," she says, noting the hands-on experience directors receive during training, including supervision for several years after training.

Interest in spiritual direction is cross generational, according to Sister Flannery. "Those who have had a positive experience of their faith in high school and particularly in college often avail themselves of spiritual direction during their professional and family lives. We see quite a few baby boomers," she says. "But people also come to this later in life. Direction was not as available when they were younger. They were busy raising families and holding down jobs. In retirement they are looking at life differently. The predominance seems to be middle age to upper middle age people."

"Spiritual direction is a very quiet ministry. It doesn't make a big splash," says Nuth. "It's just one person sitting down with another."

Contact Sister Flannery at 440-884-9300. An information night will be held 7-9 p.m., February 2 at JCU. Call Nuth at 216-397-1678.