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List of Spiritual Directors
For a list of Spiritual Directors in your area, please send an email to [email protected]. Please include your city when requesting a list of spiritual directors.
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Institute for Spiritual Direction (ISD) Training
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Spiritual direction is a ministry through which a brother or sister in faith serves as a guide to others on their journey with the Lord.
An important goal of spiritual direction is to help another grow in the interior life, learn how to recognize God's voice, and respond to his invitations. Discernment of God's voice requires daily prayer of both the spiritual guide and directee to be open and receptive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. A spiritual director therefore must be a man or woman of prayer and committed to deepening his or her own relationship with the Lord to help others to do the same. Spiritual direction is a beautiful and delicate ministry that necessitates an integral formation of the one offering accompaniment. It requires that the director be in an intentional and ongoing personal journey of spiritual growth. We cannot give to others what we do not already live ourselves. A formalized training also equips us with knowledge in spiritual theology, sound pastoral practices, and human formation in the life of virtue.
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FAQs on ISD
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What are the requirements for application and admission?
- Be at least 30 years of age.
- Active participation in a Catholic or other Christian Church for at least three years. If the applicant is Catholic and married, the marriage must be with the Catholic Church’s blessing.
- Completion of application and three letters of recommendation. (see link below)
- Background check and completion of EIM training.
- Interview with the ISD team.
What are additional characteristics that would make a good candidate?- Desire to grow in one’s own relationship with God, to learn more about the Catholic faith, to integrate faith into daily life and relationships, and to learn pastoral skills for accompanying another person.
- Desire to help others grow in their relationship with God.
- Intentionality and commitment in one’s own spiritual and human growth.
- The practice of daily mental prayer, experience of receiving spiritual direction, frequent reception of the sacraments, and resolution to grow in virtue.
- Openness to be taught and formed. Ability to listen attentively to others. Time to dedicate to the formation.
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The training that will be conducted at the Institute of Spiritual Direction has four pillars:
- Spiritual formation where we teach forms of prayer such as Lectio Divina, relational prayer, imaginative prayer, and how to face daily struggles in prayer.
- Theological formation goes through spiritual theology by addressing the life of the Trinity, the Paschal Mystery, the Holy Spirit’s role as the ultimate spiritual director, and the various spiritualities inspired in the Church.
- Human formation is where one takes seriously their own growth in having a healthy image of God, relying on God, and finding freedom in living the virtues.
- Pastoral formation is the piece that helps form one in the delicate ministry of spiritual direction by learning how to detect the voice of God in one's life, help people listen to the movements of the Holy Spirit within their interior life, and navigate difficult situations.
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The ISD Core Team for the 2027–29 class will be led in part by the Apostles of Interior Life (AVI). The Apostles are consecrated women and one of their main ministries is spiritual direction. Fr. Brian McMaster, pastor at St. Paul Chong Hasang in Harker Heights, TX, will also help lead the ISD candidates.
“Our community has an emphasis on offering spiritual formation in various forms. We have found that in particular the ministry of spiritual direction corresponds to a profound need in the Church for personal accompaniment. We find that many young people are desiring to be able to talk with someone about growing in their relationship with God and about discerning their vocation. We have spent many years offering spiritual direction on college campuses and in the last decade we have also tried to help dioceses meet the need for forming more spiritual directors through programs like Institute of Spiritual Direction in Austin and previously the Catholic Spiritual Mentorship Program in the Archdiocese of Kansas City, KS.”
- Apostles of Interior Life (AVI)
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