What is Spiritual Direction?
Spiritual direction is “help given by one Christian to another which enables that person to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of the relationship” (William A. Barry and William J. Connolly, The Practice of Spiritual Direction).
Simply, spiritual direction is a way to notice God’s presence and love in your life. Spiritual direction focuses on a person’s relationship with God most often encountered in prayer. A spiritual director is one who is trained to listen deeply to help someone respond to God’s invitation to grow a deeper relationship with God in their daily lives.
A spiritual director helps a person listen and respond to God. In this way, it is God who is the real spiritual director. A spiritual director does not offer psychological counseling or “direct” in the sense of giving advice and solving problems, but they may recommend additional support and resources during the course of your conversations.
Conversations with spiritual directors are held in confidence, however they are ethically bound to make these exceptions: if you reveal that a child or vulnerable adult is being abused, you threaten serious bodily harm to another person(s), or if you are in danger of suicide.
Our Spiritual Directors
Sr. Elaine Englert, SSJ
I have been a Sister of St. Joseph of Rochester for 57 years.
First 50 years - devoted to the ministry of Catholic Education as Teacher, Principal in elementary and secondary schools, Assistant Superintendent, Diocese of Rochester, NY, Creator of SSJ Women’s Leadership Program for/in a co-ed Catholic High School
Served 3 years in ministry to those underinsured and uninsured at St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center
Served 13 years as Co-Director of our SSJ Associate Program (an extra-curricular!)
Served 1 year as Coordinator of our Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse Community-then elected to our Congregation’s Leadership Team
Certification in Spiritual Direction- - the Haden Institute-Ontario, Canada location- 2008
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Individual Directees-various ages, female and male
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“Busy Person Retreats” for adults, teens and young adults-4 sessions per
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Weekend Retreats- high school, college students and young adults
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Served on a Directed Retreat Team at Mercy by the Sea, Madison, CT
Sr. Marilyn Pray, D. Min. LMHC
As a Sister of St. Joseph of Rochester, my ministries have included elementary and high school, St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality, parish work and administration.
I am a Certificate in Spiritual Director with a leaning toward Ignatian Spirituality, the Exercises and the19th Annotation.
Most important to me is the mysticism of the SSJ’s of uniting all people with each other and with God.
My free time is taken up with learning to be a beekeeper and enjoying the outdoors.