School of Spiritual Direction (SOSD)
The School of Spiritual Direction is devoted to nurturing a culture of attentive listening to the Holy Spirit, fostering well-formed spiritual directors and supporting the Church’s mission of accompanying souls toward a deeper union with God. Whether you are beginning a journey of spiritual formation or discerning a call to serve others, the School welcomes you into a path of faithful discernment and service.
A School at the Service of the Church
The School of Spiritual Direction is devoted to nurturing a culture of attentive listening to the Holy Spirit, fostering well-formed spiritual directors and supporting the Church’s mission of accompanying souls toward a deeper union with God.
Whether you are beginning a journey of spiritual formation or discerning a call to serve others, the School welcomes you into a path of faithful discernment and service.
Preparing Our Hearts – Foundational Courses
For those seeking deeper interior formation, the School offers foundational courses designed to prepare hearts for attentive listening to the Holy Spirit. These courses invite participants to:
- Deepen their personal relationship with God
- Grow in prayerful discernment
- Cultivate spiritual attentiveness and interior freedom
Preparing Our Hearts – Foundational Courses are ideal for individuals discerning a call to spiritual accompaniment or seeking personal spiritual renewal grounded in the Catholic tradition. These foundational courses are open to all who desire serious spiritual formation, where these graduate-level courses invite participants into prayerful study, reflection, and community as they learn to listen more attentively to the Holy Spirit and respond more freely to God’s grace.
About the School of Spiritual Direction
A Path of Formation
The foundational courses are offered as 8-week sessions and are intended to be taken in sequential order, allowing formation to unfold in a thoughtful and prayerful progression. Each course integrates Catholic theology, spiritual tradition, and attentive reflection supporting both personal growth and vocational discernment.
Who These Courses Are For?
The School of Spiritual Direction offers courses for foundational formation, certification in spiritual direction ministries, and ministry support.
SOSD101 is one of our non-instructor led foundational courses, and registration is offered below.
SDC100 is the first course in the Spiritual Direction Certificate and was previously offered via application. We are pleased to offer this course as a registration -see below.
SOSD800 is a certification for spiritual directors who are in active direction relationships. Registration for that course is also below.
Registration for all other courses will be provided directly to enrolled students.
Foundational Course Sequence
SOSD101: A Catholic Vision of Spiritual Maturity
This twelve hour self-directed online course offers students a meaningful opportunity to understand and apply in their own lives a complete and coherent vision of spiritual growth rooted in the rich tradition of Catholic Spirituality.
Drawing from the Church’s wisdom, the course presents a practical synthesis of key elements involved in growing toward spiritual maturity. Rather than offering an abstract or purely theoretical treatment, it invites students to reflect prayerfully on how these insights shape daily life, relationships, and discipleship. This course is not part of the Spiritual Direction Certificate course of study, but rather can be pursued independently either for personal enrichment or as part of discernment over further studies in Spiritual Direction.
Faith That Engages Daily Life
Designed for active Catholics, this course helps students:
- Deepen theological understand of the spiritual life
- Recognize the stages and movements of growth in Christ
- Integrate prayer, virtue, and discernment into everyday responsibilities
- Apply timeless spiritual wisdom within the realities of a busy life
While the course does not aim to be an exhaustive or definitive treatment of every spiritual theme, it offers a clear accessible framework that supports ongoing growth and formation
Rooted in Tradition, Oriented Toward Transformation
Students are introduced to foundational insights from traditional Catholic spirituality and are encouraged to reflect on how these teachings foster interior freedom, attentiveness to grace, and deeper communion with God.
Through guided reflection and practical application, participants grow not only in knowledge, but in the capacity to live thor faith more intentionally and joyfully.
A Course for Ongoing Formation
This course is ideal for:
- Christians seeking deeper spiritual maturity
- Ministry leaders and volunteers
- Those discerning a call to spiritual accompaniment
- Anyone desiring to integrate faith more fully into daily life
Whether taken for personal enrichment or as part of a broader formation path, this course supports a lifelong journey of growth in Christ.
SDC100: Life in Christ and Spiritual Direction
Life in Christ and Spiritual Direction invites students into a deeper exploration of the Christian life as a loving response to God’s invitation to communion.
This course, open to all, also serves as the first course prerequisite for the Spiritual Direction Certificate.
Roots in Scripture and the Catholic spiritual tradition, this foundational course helps students reflect on what it means to live as disciples of Jesus Christ. Through prayerful study and guided reflection, participants grow in their understanding of how prayer, discernment, and spiritual direction support a life ordered toward holiness.
* Please note that SDC100 and SDC200 are sequential courses and must be completed before registration to the Spiritual Direction Certificate
What You’ll Explore
In this course, students will:
- Reflect on the call to discipleship and life in Christ
- Deepen their understanding of personal and communal prayer
- Explore the role of spiritual direction in the Christian life
- Begin forming the interior dispositions necessary for spiritual direction
This course lays essential groundwork for those discerning further formation in spiritual direction, while also offering rich formation for anyone seeking deeper spiritual maturity.
A Foundation for Ongoing Formation
SDC100 serves as the second course in the Preparing Our Hearts- Foundational Course Sequence. It is designed to nurture attentiveness to the Holy Spirit and to form students who desire to walk more intentionally with Christ– and, for some, to accompany others on that journey.
SDC 200: Human Development for Spiritual Growth
This is the second of the prerequisites for the Spiritual Direction Certificate. Registration will be made available to those who successfully complete SDC 100.
Human Development for Spiritual Growth invites students to explore the rich interplay between the biological, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions of the human person.
Grounded in a Catholic understanding of human dignity and development, this foundational course examines how the stages and processes of human growth shape relationships, interior life, and openness to grace. Students gain insight into how human development influences both personal spiritual growth and the dynamics of the spiritual direction relationship.
What You’ll Explore
In this course, students will:
- Examine biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of human development
- Explore foundational theories of human growth and relational development
- Identify challenges and opportunities that arise in the spiritual life across the lifespan
- Understand how developmental awareness informs healthy spiritual accompaniment
Through thoughtful study and reflection, students learn how attentiveness to human development can illuminate patterns of growth, resistance, and transformation in the spiritual life.
Formation for Discernment and Accompaniment
SDC200 equips students with essential insight for spiritual formation and direction. By understanding how human development shapes experience, emotion, and relationship, students are better prepared to support spiritual growth with wisdom, compassion, and appropriate boundaries.
This course serves as the second step in the Preparing Our Hearts– Foundational Course Sequence and is intended to be taken after SDC100: Life in Christ and Spiritual Direction.
At the Service of One Another
The School of Spiritual Direction at Divine Mercy University exists not for itself, but for the growth of those who want to follow Jesus. Every course, conversation, and formation experience is oriented toward a single aim: helping individuals respond more freely, fully and faithfully to God’s grace, and equipping those called to accompany others with wisdom, humility, and love.
In an age marked by spiritual hunger and interior restlessness, the Church’s ministry of spiritual accompaniment is more vital than ever. The School serves this need by forming men and women who are deeply rooted in Catholic teaching, grounded in prayer, and attentive to the movements of the Holy Spirit in the concrete realities of human life. Formation is never merely academic; it is personal, prayerful, and ecclesial– shaping not only what students know, but who they are becoming in Christ.
Faithful to the Church and responsive to the Spirit, the School cultivates a culture of reverent listening– listening to God, to the wisdom of the Church’s spiritual tradition, and to the lived experience of those seeking guidance. Students are formed to accompany others with discernment rather than answers, compassion rather than control, and trust in God’s active presence within each soul.
Whether preparing individuals for formal ministry as spiritual directors or deepening the interior lives of those who serve in families, parishes, religious communities, and apostolic works, the School understands formation as an act of service. By nurturing spiritually mature disciples and well-formed guides, the School of Spiritual Direction contributes to the Church’s mission of leading souls toward healing, freedom, and a deeper union with God.
Not sure which program to choose?
If you are still discerning your next steps and would like more information, schedule a call with one of our guidance counselors to learn more.