Program of Priestly Formation (Ascension)

PPF 229

Spiritual Dimension

Church. It also cultivates a mind and heart attuned to the whole Body of Christ, its needs, its sufferings, its graces, and its hopes. 287 d. Spiritual direction : Biweekly meetings with an approved spiritual director is an essential part of spiritual direction, especially in arriving at the interiorization and integration needed for growth in sanctity, virtue, and readiness for Holy Orders. Seminaries should offer clear expectations regarding the frequency at which spiritual direction is scheduled. e. Bible : “A relationship with the Word of God holds a preeminent place in the process of spiritual growth.” 288 Receiving the Word of God proclaimed and preached in the Church and in the quiet and personal assimilation of that holy word in lectio divina enables those in formation to hear God’s communication to them as a transforming challenge and hope. To take on more fully the mind of Christ and to be steadily transformed by the Word of God, the seminarian should develop the habit of daily reflection on Sacred Scripture by daily meditation on the lectionary readings and/or other reflective reading of Sacred Scripture. 289 f. Retreats and days of recollection : Regular periods of more intensive prayer will be part of the seminary year. 290 “The annual retreat, a time of profound reflection in prolonged prayerful encounter with the Lord in an atmosphere of silence and recollection, must then be continued during the rest of the year in occasional periods of recollection and in daily prayer.” 291 g. Personal meditation : “The heart of spiritual formation is personal union with Christ, which is born of, and nourished in, a particular way by prolonged and silent prayer.” 292 The habit of daily prayer and meditation enables seminarians to acquire a personalized sense of how God’s salvation has taken hold of their lives and how

287 See CIC, c. 246 §2; CCEO, c. 346 §2, 3°. See Pastores Dabo Vobis , no. 48. 288 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 103. 289 See CCEO, c. 346 §2, 1°. See Pastores Dabo Vobis , no. 47. 290 See CIC, 246 §5; CCEO, c. 346 §2, 6°.

291 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 108. 292 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 102.

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