Tag Archives: Steubenville

News

Looking to become a Spiritual Director? Two New Opportunities!

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In spiritual direction, those who seek deeper intimacy with God open their hearts to a spiritual director who travels with them on their spiritual journey. But there is a definite shortage of spiritual directors and an increasing need for them in our wounded world.  Perhaps you are discerning that God is calling you to this important ministry, so more people can know the Father’s love.

Here are two new opportunities for people wishing to become spiritual directors from two very solid organizations.

  1. Franciscan University School of Spiritual Direction

In the fall of 2019, Franciscan University of Steubenville launched a School of Spiritual Direction. The school has taken as its motto:  cor ad cor loquitur—“heart speaks to heart.”

“This is a program for those who feel called by God to give what they have, which is an interior life of contemplative prayer and love for Our Lord,” said Robert Siemens, Director of the program. “While ideally applicants should be familiar with spiritual direction and have experienced the exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, they do not necessarily need advanced academic training in theology.”

The school operates under a cohort structure both during the academic year, in which students meet once a week for 24 sessions, and during the summer, in which students meet daily for two weeks.

Classroom sessions will focus on topics that lay the foundation for spiritual direction, while a practicum focused on prayer and discussion will help students discern and act as a conduit of the Holy Spirit working in their directees’ lives.

Applications are currently being accepted for the summer 2020 and fall 2020 terms. For more information on Franciscan University’s School of Spiritual Direction, including how to enroll in either the semester or summer cohort, visit their website or email inquiries to ssd@franciscan.edu.

2. Spiritual Direction Courses at the Institute for Ministry Formation at Saint Vincent Seminary

Benedictine Fathers Thomas Acklin and Boniface Hicks will conduct two classes this summer on Spiritual Direction at Saint Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, PA. Authors of the book Spiritual Direction: A Guide for Sharing the Father’s Love, they will conduct 2 classes this summer:

  • Spiritual Direction I: Art of Accompaniment (May 18-22, 2020)
  • Spiritual Direction II: Advanced Topics in Spiritual Direction (June 22-26, 2020)

Through reading, lectures and discussions participants will learn the foundational dynamics of spiritual direction including:

The need for spiritual direction
The interior life
Listening that reveals and heals
Psychological insights
Qualities of a spiritual director, and more

The courses consist of five hours of instruction per day for five days. There will be time for private meetings with the instructors.

For more information, visit their website or email: IMF@StVincent.edu

PS. Father Acklin and Father Boniface will once again be presenting at the 2020 IRL National Meeting in Mundelein, Illinois.  Please join us from April 17-19, 2020!!

 

News

Vocations Awareness Day

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On October 14, 2011, Franciscan University of Steubenville will host nearly 100 national and international religious communities and dioceses at its annual Religious Vocations Awareness Day, the largest vocations fair in the country.

“Vocation Awareness Day is a great time to connect with Catholics from different traditions and to see the many ways it is possible to follow Jesus,” says Father Rick Martignetti, O.F.M., director of Franciscan University’s Priestly Discernment Program. “Our students always find it inspiring to participate and the vocation directors are renewed by witnessing the active faith life on our campus.”

Religious Vocations Awareness Day will take place in Finnegan Fieldhouse from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. It features religious orders from eight major spiritualities, including Franciscan, Benedictine, Ignatian, Salesian, and Carmelite. Among the many dioceses to be represented are Arlington, Chicago, New York, Greensburg, Pittsburgh, and Wheeling-Charleston. Some vocation directors will come from as far away as Spain and Canada.

Attendees can stroll among the displays while learning more about the charism and apostolic mission of each order.

For more information, contact the Priestly Discernment Program at 740-283-6495 or e-mail vocationsday@franciscan.edu.

News

Thank You, Fr. Mike!

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The Franciscan University of Steubenville has announced that its chancellor and past president Father Michael Scanlan, T.O.R. will be retiring on June 30, 2011. As most of our readers know, Fr. Mike–with the powerful assistance of the Holy Spirit–was the driving force behind the incredible renewal of Franciscan University, making it an internationally recognized center of  “dynamic orthodoxy” in recent decades.

As a graduate theology student at Franciscan University in the 1990s, I’m personally grateful for Fr. Mike’s leadership and the friendship he showed me and so many other people who have stepped on the Steubenville campus.

While he deserves some well-deserved rest from his labor, I am sure he’s especially gratified that the torch has been successfully passed to Fr. Terence Henry, T.O.R. and the rest of the current administration. Catholic families are still able to count on the university’s fidelity to its Catholic–and Franciscan–principles.

For more, see this article, courtesy of Catholic News Agency.

General interest

Steubenville Vocations

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Terry Mattingly, author of the syndicated “On Religion” column for the Scripps Howard News Service, posted an interesting piece last week entitled, “Future nuns, priests face big questions.”

By “big questions,” Mattingly is really talking about the perennial questions surrounding the discernment of one’s vocation, but with the added complications of today’s landscape, including the dramatic decline (and graying) of religious vocations in America in recent decades.

The primary focus of the piece, however, concerns the response to these “big questions” by students at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where vocations have been flourishing. For example, Mattingly points out that the Priestly Formation Program on campus has produced 400 priests (with many more still in formation) over the past 25 years.

He also mentions that “many of America’s 244 Catholic colleges and universities offer similar programs.” Of course, if there were 244 Steubenvilles, we wouldn’t be wondering about tomorrow’s vocations (except maybe about where to put them all!). As it is, very few colleges have fostered vocations the way Franciscan University has.

Mattingly gives several reasons why Franciscan University enjoys such success. Clearly the vibrancy, or what the school at times calls its “dynamic orthodoxy,” is very attractive.

Yet, I think Fr. Richard Davis, T.O.R., whom Mattingly quotes in the article, does well to stress the fact that there are three male and four female religious orders that maintain houses near the campus. Fr. Davis also pointed out that many other orders regularly send younger members to visit the campus or study there.

“Our students are very sensitive to this,” said Davis. “New styles of habits and robes keep appearing here all the time. The students see that and it makes them curious. . . . This campus produces a large number of priests, but I believe even more of our young women become sisters and nuns.”

Click here for more information on this summer’s youth conferences sponsored by Franciscan University of Steubenville.