(This is the second in a three-part series. The first article can be found here: Part 1: The nature and purpose of spiritual direction )
Reading about this precious gift of Intimacy which our loving God desires for you has stirred your heart and you want to know more. But we don’t know what we don’t know, so you may be asking…how do I start? Who do I ask to guide me? In his classic writing, Spiritual Theology, Fr. Jordan Aumann O.P. explains the nature of spiritual direction and the qualities to look for in a spiritual director. He puts into clear language the pitfalls of poor direction as well. Let’s look at the technical and moral qualities needed in an effective spiritual director.
Technical qualities of a director
For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-2 Peter 1:5-8
Scripture illuminates the importance for a spiritual director to not only be experienced in direction and the spiritual life, but also to be learned and prudent. Fr. Aumann relies upon Ss. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross for explanation of this. To lead another person to God, one must know God; thus, the director must have a solid understanding of the dogma of the Faith without syncretism. He/she must understand the importance of aesthetical practices to surrendering to God’s love and the true expressions of that surrender as taught in our mystical theology. Psychological knowledge not only helps the director to understand the directee at a natural level, but also to identify psychological experiences in prayer which the directee might falsely deem supernatural (e.g. quietism). Our saints teach us that growing in love with God progresses in stages through which God gives the person certain trials appropriate to their readiness to remain yoked to Him. As prayer is simply intimate conversation with God, the directee’s prayer changes over time too.
You can see, then, that the purpose of knowledge for the director isn’t intended to be an intellectual pursuit but, rather, to be applied to this particular individual, his/her mental and physical state, circumstances, etc. Fr. Aumann explains:
“The director is not called upon to make decisions regarding general doctrine; most people could find such answers in any standard manual of spiritual theology. The director’s role is precisely to recognize the particular circumstances of a given situation and to give the advice needed at that moment.” (p. 271)
Therefore, prudence is a key virtue necessary in a spiritual director. Prudence forms an act to be virtuous; it is using morally virtuous means to carry out an action. All virtues are connected through prudence to one another because prudence determines the means of the action to render it a good act. In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola says the director should “take everything told him (by the directee) as coming from an angel from God. Not with human wisdom and prudence but with a simple eye he should receive it.” (Palmer, On giving the spiritual exercises, p. 66, para. 5.) Thus, the spiritual director shouldn’t rely merely upon his own common sense but, rather, the infused virtue of prudence given to him/her at baptism, by which the Holy Spirit perfects the director’s prudent choices.
A director with prudent judgement will also possess clear, concrete speech in expressing it to the directee. His confidence in the Holy Spirit and his desire for the betterment of the directee’s relationship with God must be free of personal bias or self-serving motives to be sincere. Such a director speaks truth in love, the language of the Holy Spirit known to every soul. Thus, if the directee resists the director’s advisements, tries to control the conversation or otherwise manipulate the director, a prudent director will recognize the resistance and remain in the truth. As mentioned earlier, he/she will have a basic understanding of the directee’s emotional and mental state, their vocation in life, and the spiritual battles often fought in this relationship of love in God. This is important so as to not overwhelm them. As Fr. Aumann explains, “There is, therefore, a world of difference between firmness in demanding obedience and an excessive rigidity that discourages the soul of the penitent.” (p. 272). The director will be able to question the directee’s resistance or help them identify their manipulative behavior in a manner that leads them to uncover the source of their resistance to God. Rather than perceiving this as a challenge or threat, the prudent director sees it all as opportunity for both spiritual and natural growth of the directee.
This knowledge and prudence also enable a director to follow the lead of the Spirit into unknown territory. For if the director himself has not grown in the spiritual life, he does not have his own experiential context within which to hear the directee’s heart. Conversely, if he is advanced in this relationship with God, he risks assuming his own experiences are the only benchmark by which to compare those of his directee. To do so would be projecting his own life experiences upon the directee.
Thus knowledge, prudence, and one’s own experience (both in the spiritual life and in directing others) work in unison to dispose the director to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit guides and prompts him throughout the directed meeting.
Moral qualities of a director
For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall.
-2 Peter 1:9-10
Fr. Aumann also notes moral qualities needed in a director, specifically “piety, zeal for the sanctification of souls, humility, and disinterestedness” (p. 272). The virtue of piety is to give honor and reverence to those who are “responsible for our existence or well-being” (Catholic Dictionary). This is first God our Creator, but also our human parents, extended family, and even our country. This is a virtue that, once acquired as a regular habit, is perfected by the theological virtues of faith and charity infused into our soul in baptism. The Gift of the Holy Spirit, also infused in our soul, perfects our worship of God. What once was worship of Him as Creator is transformed into worshipping out of love for Him as Father (see Summa Theologiae II-II q. 121, a.1). As for what piety ‘looks like’ in the spiritual director, Fr. Aumann describes this as:
“permeated with the great truths of the Christian life. It should be eminently Christocentric and orientated to the glory of God. The director should likewise be animated with a profound sense of our adoptive filiation so that he can see God above all as a loving Father.” (p. 272)
As a Gift of the Holy Spirit, piety brings with it understanding of God and things Divine beyond human knowledge such that Fr. Aumann exhorts “There can be no doubt whatever that piety is the first and most basic moral quality a good director of souls should possess.” (p. 273).
Zeal, then, is a natural outpouring from the intense love of God. It is the nature of love that it must be shared. God is love (1 John 4:8), and the three Persons of the Trinity are eternally in an act of shared love. Thus, a person who receives this love desires to share it too. Zeal is love in motion, so when acting authentically out of zeal the director will also maintain emotional sensitivity and balance guided by the Holy Spirit. In contrast, a spiritual director’s emotional fervor or egoism masked as zeal will quickly be seen through its excessive rigor or demanding behavior, lack of compassion, biased assumptions, etc.
These qualities of false zeal are ego-centric and barriers to God’s love, which brings us to the need for humility. For how can the director listen to the Holy Spirit and guide the directee towards knowing and experiencing true love if he/she is set in oneself? Humility is a grace magnet and, applying the teachings of St. Thomas, grace is received to the extent of the director’s disposition of heart ( “For it is clear that whatever is received into something is received according to the condition of the recipient” See I. q75.a5 and elsewhere). Fr. Aumann explains that humility will also cause the director to reflect and seek counsel from more experienced people (p. 273).
Authentic zeal born of love and sincere humility naturally lead to disinterestedness. Disinterestedness is not apathy or lack of concern for the directee. Rather, it is care and compassion for them that is selfless, not seeking to meet one’s own needs of affirmation, ego, belonging, etc. It is in essence the disposition of heart held by one with humble zeal. In a sense, it is the principle and foundation of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s spiritual exercises as applied and lived out in the work of a spiritual director.
Thus we can see how these moral qualities are the effects of God’s work in the director’s own soul. As such, these virtues are companions to the technical qualities of the director. Our final article in this series will further explain the spiritual direction dynamic and provide you with resources to find the spiritual director our loving Lord already has planned for you. ?
(All references to the writings of Fr. Jordan Aumann are taken from Spiritual Theology, published by Continuum 1980-2006 https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/spiritual-theology-9781472975393/ )
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