Spiritual Direction
Spiritual Direction
Spiritual Direction
A companion with you to recognize the presence and call of the Holy
Spiritual direction (or spiritual companioning) is a relationship in which the director listens to your story with an ear to the holy, to the divine. It’s a confidential conversation in which the Spirit of God is present as you talk about your journey in faith.
Your director is:
- a companion for your journey who assists you in recognizing the presence and call of the Holy in your life.
- not a therapist, but rather a listener who can be helpful as you open yourself more fully to the action of the Spirit.
You don’t need to come to spiritual direction with any great problems or concerns. God’s movement in you may be a gentle desire to spend more time in prayer or a need to discover God’s presence in the ordinary events of daily life. You may even discover the presence of the Holy where you didn’t think it existed in your life.
Mercy Center has permanent staff members who offer spiritual direction.
They usually offer appointments Monday-Friday during normal business hours.
Agnes Brueggen, RSM, is a spiritual director who guides individual retreats, coordinates group retreats and provides individual spiritual companioning. She has special interest in incarnational and creation-centered spirituality. Agnes has a bachelors in education from Maryville University in St. Louis, and a master’s in pastoral studies from Loyola University in Chicago. She is a member of Spiritual Directors International.
Rita O’Dea
has worked in spiritual direction and retreat ministry since 1983 and has served on the Mercy Center Spirituality Team since 2001. She completed a certificate program in spiritual direction at Mercy Center in Burlingame, California. Her approach is holistic, integrating mind/body/spirit. Her special interests include dreamwork and the dialogue between Eastern and Western traditions of spirituality. She is a member of Spiritual Directors International.
Sandy Prucha, RSM, received certification in spiritual direction from the Franciscan Spiritual Center near Portland, Oregon. Integration of spirituality, the arts, and nature are central to her practice of spiritual direction and retreat ministry. In addition to being an artist, musician and offering facilitation work, Sandy has a doctorate in Counseling Psychology and is a member of Spiritual Directors International.
Mercy Center also has several Adjunct Spiritual Directors.
They see spiritual direction clients on the Mercy Center Campus and may offer appointments some evenings and weekends in addition to daytime hours.
For more information, please call 314-909-4663
