Why Does Spiritual Direction Matter?

St. Bernard of Clairvaux once said, “He who constitutes himself his own spiritual director is the disciple of a fool.” Why would such a gentle saint make such a harsh statement?

It is because he saw many good souls get stuck spiritually.

He once also lamented that many who make initial progress in the interior life get stuck and very few make it past the most basic progress. St. John of the Cross also reveals in his writings that very few gain the great graces of the life that God desires to give them because they don’t understand the spiritual life.

The good news is that God has provided all we need to gain every grace He intends for us. Beyond the sacraments, prayer and the Mass, there is no more powerful tool than spiritual direction.

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Image credit for this post on “Why does spiritual direction matter?: “Laughing Fool,” By Netherlandish (possibly Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen), ca 1500, PD-US, Wikimedia Commons.

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Dan Burke

Dan Burke is the past President and C.O.O. of EWTN's worldwide news
network. He is presently the founder and President of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation, which offers graduate and personal enrichment studies in spiritual theology to priests, deacons, religious, and laity in 90 countries and prepares men for seminary in over 40 dioceses.

Dan is the author and editor of numerous books on authentic Catholic spirituality and hosts the Divine Intimacy Radio show with his wife, Stephanie, which is broadcast weekly on EWTN Radio. Past episodes can be found, along with thousands of articles on the interior life, at SpiritualDirection.com.

In his deep commitment to the advancement of faithful Catholic spirituality, he is also the founder of Apostoli Viae, a world-wide, private association of the faithful dedicated to living and advancing the authentic spiritual patrimony of the Church.

Most importantly, Dan is a blessed husband, father of four, grandfather of one—and grateful to be Catholic.