Spiritual Direction—What is it? by Father Carney
Very few people today know what spiritual direction is. In this article the reader will learn about the practicality and necessity of direction. It will also be helpful to distinguish between direction for beginners, the proficient, and the perfect. Finally, what ought to be the qualities of a director, and the one being directed, will be examined.
Practicality
The author once read St. Thomas stating that one out of every ten males is called by God to the priesthood. St. John Bosco asserted one out of five. Our human family falls very short in responding to the call from God. Imagine if St. Thomas’ statement were a reality, every person could practically have a spiritual director because for every ten people there would be a priest. Of course the ideal would only exist if every priest lived up to his calling. In reality it is very difficult to find a capable priest. St. Teresa of Avila says, “I say one out of ten thousand; for there are fewer men than we realize who are capable of this task.” As many of the faithful can observe, the Church and the world are in a crisis of faith, and this contributes to the fact that few can perform the art of spiritual direction. But if one sincerely tries to find a qualified director and cannot, she must then rely on direction from the Holy Spirit, for God does not require the impossible. If, however, one can find a good director, the road to deeper union with God is more concrete (no pun intended) and practical.
Necessity
The rest of this article relies heavily on Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange in his work The Three Ages of the Interior Life. Priests are mediators between God and men. Providence operates in a similar way in spiritual direction. Pope Leo XIII in a letter to Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore wrote, “A most provident God has decreed that men for the most part should be saved by men.” St. Paul was breathing out threats and overseeing acts of slaughter when Christ struck him to the ground. St. Paul asked Him, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”[1] He was sent to Ananias at Damascus to learn what to do. “Arise, and go into the city,” the Lord said, “and there it should be told thee what thou must do.”[2] God used a man to help the man St. Paul.
The spirit of pride presents itself to the soul, “Don’t ask a priest, he is too busy.” or “There is no one with the competence who can direct me.” St. Bernard says, “He who constitutes himself his own director, becomes a disciple of a fool.” He continues, “As far as I am concerned, I declare that it is easier and safer for me to command many others than myself alone.”[3]
Swallow the red pill and prepare to advance in the spiritual life. “A person having a good director whom he obeys completely and unreservedly will reach his goal much more easily and rapidly then he could alone…”[4] And St. Vincent Ferrer in addition to this taught:
“Even with the aid of a very keen intellect and learned books on spiritual matters…In general, all who have reached perfection, have followed this road of obedience, unless, by a privilege and singular grace, God Himself instructed some souls that had not one to direct them.”
Man’s complacency prevents his judging himself impartially, says St. Francis de Sales. Likewise, a person in a closed room for a while does not notice the air has become vitiated, but someone who walks in all of a sudden can immediately know.
One needs a guide to climb the mountain of the spiritual life because the more one ascends, the more one must avoid the snares laid by Satan who wishes to prevent one from ascending. The devil hides behind the pride of souls trying to advance.
The Direction of Beginners
One of the first mistakes for beginners is giving up the spiritual life too early, for reasons which are aptly explained by Our Lord in the Parable of the Sower.[5] But a wise director can guide them in prayer asking them, at least in the beginning of the spiritual life, whether they made their prayers or not. Confessors can help souls from relapse into mortal sin this way. With a guide, it is easier for souls to bypass common pitfalls,[6] cover ground rapidly, and reach a life of union.
Other beginners take a secret pride in austerity. They look like immovable marble statues, signs of piety, but charity is not in them. They exceed the healthy limits of the practice of exterior mortification until they compromise their health. At the same time, what a pity if the director discourages or crushes in his directee a sincere and worthy desire for traditional asceticism, which is an essential part of the spiritual life.
Guides are needed to direct beginners who almost always will go through aridity. St. John of the Cross once wrote, “Do we love the consolations of God, or the God of all consolation?” When the aridity is prolonged, difficult and quite severe, a guide can give them a hand, “This happens to all of us on the way. The royal road of suffering is the sure path.” Temptations against patience and chastity usually combine with this challenge.
This marks the passage from the purgative way to the illuminative way. Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange give three signs:
1. When we find no comfort in the things of God, and also none in created things.
2. When the memory dwells ordinarily on God with a keen desire for perfection and the fear of not serving God.
3. When meditation is not possible and one feels inclined to a simple gaze on God.
The Direction of Proficients
It should not take as long to direct advanced souls because they know the terms of the spiritual life and can explain themselves better than beginners. The director observes the Holy Ghost working in the soul and oversees that it remains docile to His inspirations. The director helps the soul discern the spirits, finds the dominant defect to be combated and the special attraction of grace to be followed.[7]
The soul needs to read and meditate on the Scriptures to recognize the importance of obedience. He who does not submit to obedience of superiors is called a species of idolatry: “like the crime of idolatry, to refuse to obey.”[8] Hidden pride and presumption may become the source of great illusions.[9]
A good guide is needed so the soul does not derail on her passage through the trials that lead to the unitive way. Generally prolonged privation of sensible and spiritual consolations are difficult to navigate on one’s own, like chronic illness or living with a demanding personality. Strong temptations against faith, hope and fraternal charity and even love of God often arise at this juncture. A director helps the soul not fall back at this time but go forward.
The Direction of the Perfect
God could guide all of us Himself; but to render us humble, He wills that we submit to his ministers. “St. Teresa felt the need of opening her soul completely to learned men, versed in the things of the interior life, to make certain of her docility to the Holy Ghost.”[10] Complete transparency before the director helps the directee to know when to be passive under the direction of God or when the Lord asks them to take action. Once a soul masters this, she can do wonderful things for the Kingdom of God and be open to receive great merit. The temptation is to be too active or too passive. The guide can direct the soul quickly to God by means of fidelity, abandonment, and profound humility on the royal road of suffering.
Qualities of the Director
St. Francis de Sales lists charity, learning, and prudence to be necessary for the director. If any are missing there is danger. He also needs to be a good psychologist, knowing the difference between spiritual sickness and physical sickness. Today so many souls battle gut issues from pesticides and are told that they are psychologically disturbed when it is just imbalance of the endocrine glands, or other physical malady. If the director cannot discern the dominant defect to be avoided and supernational grace to follow, he must pray for light and if he is humble he will receive the graces of state.[11]
Duties of the Directed Soul
He ought to respect his director as the representative of God and avoid sharp criticisms and excessive familiarity. He must be docile in following counsel given; otherwise, he would follow his own will. The soul will not be mistaken in obeying wrong advice, unless he advises something contrary to faith and morals. “In that event a change of director is imperative.”[12]
Stay with the spiritual director God has given if you are being led on the narrow way which becomes broader and broader as we draw near the infinite goodness of God.
Conclusion
In a word, the purpose of spiritual direction is to lead the soul to God. The guide alerts the soul when it strays off the path. For further reading: beginners read The Three Conversions in the Spiritual Life by Fr. Garigou-Lagrange; and proficents and perfect read The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol. 1 & 2, by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange.
[1] Acts ix, 6.
[2] Ibid. ix, 7.
[3] Epist. 87, no. 7.
[4] Garrigou-Lagrange, Fr. The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol. 1, p. 256.
[5] Mt. xii, 1-23.
[6] Garrigou-Lagrange, Fr. The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol. 1, p. 259. Beginners have an inclination to pride, spiritual gluttony, envy, anger, sloth.
[7] Ibid., p. 260.
[8] I King xv, 23.
[9] St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 2: Certain Imperfections of Proficients.
[10] Life, chap. 13: “They who walk in the way of prayer have the greater need of learning; and the more spiritual they are, the greater is that need.”
[11] Garrigou-Lagrange, Fr. The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol. 1, p. 262.
[12] Ibid., p. 263.