Spiritual Direction Program for Priests
Avila Institute’s Spiritual Direction for Priests Program aims at training priests to be strong spiritual directors who will accompany each High Calling learner in his discernment of the priesthood.
Areas of Concentration Include:
Under the patronage of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the mission of the Avila Institute is to draw Christians worldwide into deeper union with Christ through mystagogically-oriented spiritual education and formation. As a part of the Avila Institute, the High Calling Program helps to form men who are drawn to consider a vocation as a Catholic priest, either in a religious community or a diocese. All the Avila instructors interact weekly with their students through written reflections exchanged in order to assist in the dual process of understanding and assimilating a priestly vocation.
The discernment of a calling to the priesthood ought to be supported by spiritual direction in every High Calling participant. For this reason, the Avila Institute has launched a new program for the training of priest-spiritual directors who will accompany each High Calling learner over the course of his academic experience. These specially chosen and highly trained priests offer their directees the chance to discuss openly and freely the challenges of their discernment process.
About the Program
Priest-director candidates are then enrolled in a six-module program of the Avila Institute that trains them in the basics of spiritual direction and its application to the vocational discernment. Each module is composed of four 90-minute sessions; the entire program is scheduled over a 24 week period.
Qualifications
To qualify as a spiritual director candidate, a priest must be ordained with no less than three years in pastoral service. He should be known for his depth and fidelity of understanding, not only of Catholic belief, but of its effective application in the lives of those he shepherds
