Directory of Catholic Spiritual Directors for Women* Before starting spiritual direction, please email spiritual directors to check their availability. Also please read and agree to the terms here.
For questions about the CatholicSpiritualDirection.org website or about being listed on this page, please email the website owner, Kathryn Marcellino:
Mary Sharon Moore, M.T.S., is an active spiritual director, vocation consultant, and author of Touching the Reign of God: Bringing theological reflection to daily life. Her spiritual and vocation direction practice supports lay men and women, as well as clergy and those in ministry formation, in discernment of God’s gifting and God’s calling. Click here for more information.
M. Delphine LeDouxcompanions people through prayer--in person or by phone, as they seek to meet God, experience God, and deepen their spiritual journey through prayer. Her spirituality is shaped within the Roman Catholic tradition. Delphine believes that prayer and spiritual reflection enable us to immerse ourselves in God, to enflesh the divine Presence. Click here for more information.
Karen ShieldsWright is a Spiritual Director and a Natural Health Care Physician focusing on integrative wellness. Dr. Shields Wright has given retreats “In Sickness and in Health” for nurses, health care workers and patients; presentations on the Spirituality and Ethics of the Catholic Health Care Workers, Spirituality & Health, Catholic Social Teaching, and Prayer & Healing. Spiritual Direction is provided in office or virtually via teleconferencing or Skype. Click here for more information.
See below for more details on each listed spiritual director:
Mary Sharon Moore, M.T.S., is an active spiritual director, vocation consultant, and author of Touching the Reign of God: Bringing theological reflection to daily life. Her spiritual and vocation direction practice supports lay men and women, as well as clergy and those in ministry formation, in discernment of God’s gifting and God’s calling.
Mary Sharon has a master’s degree in theological studies from the Franciscan School of Theology, Berkeley. She is founding director of Awakening Vocations, a ministry formed in the Roman Catholic tradition to awaken the vocational culture of parishes and vocation discernment in individuals. Her work has appeared in Catechist magazine and Presence, the journal of Spiritual Directors International. Her Journey With the Word seasonal meditations are heard on Catholic radio stations around the United States.
Vibrantly Christ-centered, Mary Sharon believes that regular, prayerful relationship with God is the key to living as Christ lived—lovingly for the sake of the world.
Spiritual direction with Mary Sharon Moore offers you . . . Clarity in discerning:
• God’s movement in the circumstances of your life;
• Spiritual gifts already at work in your life;
• The quality of your vocational response to God’s calling;
• Next steps on your spiritual and vocational journey.
Topics often brought to spiritual direction . . .
• Unnamed losses in life, unfinished grieving;
• Shifts in relationships or health;
• The hidden poverties in your life;
• Hunger for growth in prayer;
• Search for meaning in life and work.
Areas of vocational discernment . . .
• Discernment of charisms at work in your life right now;
• Discernment of God’s willing and God’s calling in your life;
• Areas of response or resistance to God’s willing and God’s grace;
• Prayer practices that lead to and express mature faith.
Spiritual direction by phone . . . Mary Sharon offers spiritual and vocation direction by phone. Please to arrange for an introductory conversation. Click here for a brochure.
About the spiritual and vocational direction relationship. . .
All work is one-to-one. Mary Sharon also works with couples who wish to discern God’s calling within their marriage. All work is confidential. In Mary Sharon’s practice spiritual direction is not about “solving problems” but about finding patterns of God’s movement, grace, and willing in your life’s circumstances. Mary Sharon prays for her directees individually each day at noon.
What you can expect . . . • Unconditional welcome and respect for who you are and where you are in your life;
• Permission to be yourself –unadorned, honest, striving for clarity and meaning;
• Encouragement and insight, in an unrushed and prayerful environment.
How to prepare . . . • Prayerfully reflect, a day or two before your session, on what God would have you notice about your life, what you are working on, challenges you are facing;
• Notice what Scripture passages speak to your heart or imagination at this time;
• Make note of the concerns you want to bring to the session;
• Be prepared. Sessions last one hour, so consider in advance how you want to use that time. And be prepared, too, for the movement of the Holy Spirit.
How the session flows . . . • At the start, you will be given time to calm from the noise of the day.
• Mary Sharon will invite you to share a meaningful passage from Scripture or some other meaningful text.
• Silence follows until you are ready to lead or request the opening prayer.
• Mary Sharon will ask you what you would like to discuss during the session.
Customary offering . . . $60, or what your means allow. Checks are payable to Awakening Vocations or Mary Sharon Moore.
Endorsements “Mary Sharon Moore is a warm, generous, prayerful, and faith-filled woman of the Church with a love for Jesus and a desire to help others to deepen their relationship with him. Her training in spiritual direction and charism discernment, and her years in pastoral work, make Mary Sharon particularly effective in her ministry. I heartily recommend Mary Sharon as a spiritual director.” Michael Fones, O.P., Co-Director
Catherine of Siena Institute, Colorado Springs, CO.
“Mary Sharon Moore is a woman of faith, truly a disciple of Jesus Christ in the Roman Catholic tradition. She is a person of experience who has struggled with the realities of prayer and life. Guided by the Holy Spirit, she is gifted in helping others to discern God’s calling, and is steeped in Scripture and wisdom of the Christian tradition. I strongly recommend Mary Sharon as a spiritual director.” Antoinette Traeger, O.S.B., Founder
“With Hearts Expanding” spiritual direction program
Queen of Angels Monastery, Mount Angel, OR.
A few words from Mary Sharon . . . Thank you for your interest in spiritual direction. I may not know you yet. If we converse from a distance by phone, I may never meet you in person. Still, this is my prayer for you, which I pray with great joy in my heart: I continually thank my God for you because of the favor he has bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, in whom you have been richly endowed with every gift. . . . God is faithful, and has called you to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (see 1 Corinthians 1:3-9)
Carry this thought . . . “God has determined that I should reach that which will be my greatest happiness. God looks on me individually, calls me by my name, knows what I can do, what I can best be, what is my greatest happiness. And God means to give it to me!” John Henry Cardinal Newman, written during the darkest period of his life.
Contact Mary Sharon Moore, M.T.S., for more information, and to discern whether spiritual direction is right for your needs.
M. Delphine LeDouxcompanions people through prayer--in person or by phone, as they seek to meet God, experience God, and deepen their spiritual journey through prayer. Her spirituality is shaped within the Roman Catholic tradition. Delphine believes that prayer and spiritual reflection enable us to immerse ourselves in God, to enflesh the divine Presence. As a prayer companion, Delphine helps clarify what you encounter in your experience with God, who is as close to you as your every breath.
PRAYER COMPANION
Prayer Companioning by phone: Delphine offers spiritual companionship and prayer by phone, in one hour sessions.
You may e-mail Delphine at prayercompanion@netzero.net, and please include your time zone to arrange for a brief introductory meeting to discern whether this is the right fit for you at this time.
All sharing is one-to-one and confidential, allowing you to share your journey, life, experiences, and recurring patterns of experience as you seek God's deepening invitation.
In these one hour prayer conversations, you can expect welcome and respect for who you are and where you are today. Together, we will listen for who you hope to be, honestly seeking God's will for you in clarity and meaning. You will receive encouragement, insight, and capacity for prayer, all in an unrushed environment.
How to prepare: Reflect prayerfully a day or two before your scheduled session on what God is inviting you to recognize about your life, your hopes, your challenges, your conversational prayer.
Note what scripture passages speak to you or invite you more deeply at this time.
At the start of the session, we will take a deep breath or two to calm from the day's noise. Delphine will invite you to share your chosen scripture, followed by silence until you are ready to pray further.
She will ask you what you would like to focus on during this session.
Customary Offering: Customary offering is $45 or what your means allows. Checks are payable to M. Delphine LeDoux.
Thank you for your interest in sharing your prayer, your experiences, and your journey to and within God. We may never meet face-to-face, but our shared prayer, deep and respectful listening, and being present to each other and to God will bring blessings, gift, and grace. My prayer for you right now is light, joy, and peace through all your breaths. I give God thanks for you, and for your willingness to share and grow in your journey into God.
Karen ShieldsWright is a Spiritual Director and a Natural Health Care Physician focusing on integrative wellness. Dr. Shields Wright has given retreats “In Sickness and in Health” for nurses, health care workers and patients; presentations on the Spirituality and Ethics of the Catholic Health Care Workers, Spirituality & Health, Catholic Social Teaching, and Prayer & Healing. Spiritual Direction is provided in office or virtually via teleconferencing or Skype.
Spirituality, Health & Healing
We all want to be healthy and whole, yet at times is it just not seem possible when chronic or other illnesses threatens our well being or our very existence here on earth or those we love.
Caring for those we love is difficult in such circumstance for it is painful to see our loved one suffer as we walk the path with them.
Servicing patients and clients in health care or other related care in addition to supporting their caregivers is a gift of grace yet it takes much strength and renewal to continue in such a ministry.
Our Church has 2000 years of wisdom of reflecting upon our human concerns as it relates to health and healing.
Yet what is health? The great philosopher, theologian and saint of our times Pope John Paul II said this:
"Health is a dynamic tension towards physical, mental, social, and spiritual harmony, and not only the absence of illness, which gives man the ability to fulfill the mission which has been entrusted to him, according to the state of life in which he finds himself."
What we all seek and can receive is healing even in the midst of illness or suffering.
What is healing? Healing is becoming whole through God’s grace - whole as in allowing the peace of Christ to enter our lives - a peace and harmony through all that has been given to us within our circumstances at whatever stage of life we find ourselves.
How do I become whole and heal?
Becoming whole again is by listening to and being led by the Holy Spirit, for it is in that we come closer to Him who holds us up, the One who is always there for us.
We all ask the questions: Why? What can I do? How can I pray? Where is God in all of this?
We will all face at least one time in our lives a health crisis and as a caregiver. By coming to experience more deeply God in our lives especially during an illness crisis be it ours or others is how we can travel that difficult road with peace through His grace.
Why see a Spiritual Director who is also in health care? If you feel you would like to spiritually companion with someone who has experience and knowledge in health care, and who may understand the clinical issues involved in offering you added support during the direction session. For more information contact me at www.spiritualdirection.co.
Karen Shields Wright is a Catholic Spiritual Director and a Natural Health CarePhysician focusing on integrative wellness.
Dr. Shields Wright is a graduate of Fordham University with a Masters in Spirituality and a Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Direction.
Karen has given retreats “In Sickness and in Health” for health care workers and patients; presentations on the spirituality and ethics of the Catholic health care workers, Spirituality & Health, Catholic Social Teaching, and Prayer & Healing.
As graduate of New York Chiropractic College, she has treated over 4000 patients and has continued on in her post graduate education at New York Medical College graduate school in health care administration; CE at Harvard Medical School in Complementary & Alternative Medicine, and Spirituality & Healing; and other institutions for CE in internal medicine, nutrition, and wellness. www.drkarenshields.com.
Wright has training as a hospital chaplain at Greenwich Hospital Yale New Haven Health.
As a member of the Vatican’s Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, she is the USA’s National Program Director for the weeklong “Catholic Social Teaching Certificate” cosponsored with Catholic University of America, in additional a past board member of the Fairfield Country Chapter www.capp-usa.org. Dr. Wright was the founder and past president of the Association for Catholic Chiropractors, an affiliate of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations.
Dr. Wright is a Dame of the Order of Malta, a lay religious order dedicated to serving the sick and the poor and defending the faith www.maltausa.org. She volunteers as a chaplain at Malta House in Norwalk CT, teaching and counseling the mothers about their Christian faith, additionally she is a Eucharistic Minister to the Sick.
As one who has suffered through a disability, family member with cancer, and assisting other members through the last moments of their life, all by the grace of God, I understand personally and deeply the struggles we all ultimately face.
Dr. Karen Shields Wright
Chaplain/Spiritual Director
Office: 203-629-2727
Cell: 203-496-1210
*Note: The spiritual directors listed above are not employed by, and are independent of, CatholicSpiritualDirection.org. The CatholicSpiritualDirection.org website lists them at their request and for a fee as a service for those seeking spiritual direction, and gives no recommendations, guarantees or endorsements for any particular spiritual director. User discretion is advised. If you have any feedback regarding anyone listed please contact us.
