Testimonials from the Spiritual Directors Convention

The Spiritual Directors convention was held at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center November 11-15, 2020, in Norwood, Ohio. It offered spiritual directors a practical and theoretical learning experience of how to give the 19th annotation of spiritual exercises -- spiritual exercises in daily life.

The convention directors were Fr. Stephen Ellis, LC, from RC North Carolina, and Janet Lees, spiritual director and RC Ohio Valley coordinator of spiritual direction.  Here are a couple of testimonials from the convention:

Lorianne MacDonnell - Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi
It is rather amazing that the inspiration of a saint from the mid-1500’s is still having a profound impact on so many lives today.  If there was ever a year we needed the teachings of St. Ignatius, it is in 2020.  In mid-November I had the opportunity to go deepen in the teachings of St. Ignatius’s gift to the Church called the Spiritual Exercises.  Specifically, in the course we learned how to lead retreatants through the Spiritual Exercises while still living their daily life routine, otherwise known as the 19 ^th annotation. 

As a spiritual director, I feel our Lord has placed a special call in my heart to lead people through this spiritual adventure, and this course was a good opportunity to share and learn from other Spiritual Directors in Regnum Christi.  During the spiritual exercises, a person has the opportunity to pray through the whole life of Christ and to come to know him in a much more intimate way. It seems that Christ becomes much more present in the reality of a person’s life.  It has a way of helping a person realize God’s story is their story and that He has a unique love language for each one of us.  Deep down we all have a desire to know God better, to hear his voice, to understand it, and to respond.  I am grateful to Janet Lees and Fr. Stephen Ellis< LC, and their team for their hours of preparation and teaching and service.  I feel better prepared  and more confident to serve my directees especially in these difficult times, and I am more convinced that Regnum Christ has a special call to share the spiritual exercises.
 

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Teresa Peach - Lay Regnum Christi member from Akron, Ohio
I keep thanking God for my formation experience at the Spiritual Director's Convention. First, the quality of the material presented by Fr. Ellis and Janet Lees was very rich and deep as they both know -- and LIVE -- the Exercises. Going through the training with many RC members, Consecrated Women, and Legionaries proved to what depths our spirituality is growing and how our spiritual family is going deeper in our charism. Finally, sharing our own personal spiritual journey of praying through the Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life within small groups gave us all many profound insights into the beautifully transforming work that God desires for each soul through this spiritual treasure of St. Ignatius!