The Modern Era

Abstract

Within the Roman tradition women spiritual directors flourished during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Whereas few Protestant women directors were self-conscious of the ministry they were engaging in, many Roman women were very aware. They openly identified themselves as spiritual directors and were most deliberate about their task. They relied heavily on the spirituality and methodology of past spiritual directors, particularly that of Teresa of Avila, for their models, but they always adopted past practices to their specific situation. It was within the religious orders that the women spiritual directors found a permanent home, and, because women religious orders were multiplying exponentially during these centuries, adapting direction to the needs of each order was challenging. New orders were founded almost annually, each with a unique task it defined as its own. Nursing, missionary work, teaching, contemplation, social work, work among slaves and Native Americans, the administration of orphanages and camps, catechetical work, sewing, clerical work, editorial work and translation, bookbinding, caring for the aged, hospices work: Each of these tasks had a religious order dedicated solely to its completion.1 And because each order defined its apostolate differently, each consequently developed its own spirituality centered on that apostolate.KeywordsReligious OrderSpiritual LifeSacred HeartPermanent HomeRoman WomanThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.