Saint Joseph’s University and Loyola Jesuit Center Announce New Partnership in Forming Future Spiritual Directors
The initiative capitalizes on nearly 150 years of combined spirituality programming between the two institutions.
Saint Joseph’s University and the Loyola Jesuit Center in Morristown, New Jersey, have teamed up to offer a training program for much needed spiritual directors in the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. The Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (SEEL) formation program, launching in January 2025, is intended for new spiritual directors and will offer comprehensive formation in the art of spiritual direction in an Ignatian community setting.
“There is a tremendous need for trained spiritual directors in our region to assist the growing interest in 'The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius' and powerful decision-making methods he developed,” says Daniel R. J. Joyce S.J., BS ’88, vice president for mission and ministry at SJU, who is leading the program alongside Beverly Delleart, adjunct spiritual director at the Loyola Jesuit Center.
For decades, Saint Joseph’s Office of Mission Programs and the Loyola Jesuit Center have each offered spirituality programs inspired by “The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola.” The new, collaborative SEEL program expands upon these offerings and is modeled after the SEEL communities first begun by Jesuits and colleagues in Seattle, Washington, over 30 years ago.
People from all walks of life are seeking out professionals who can guide them in the Spiritual Exercises, as they apply to everyday life.
Beverly Delleart
Adjunct Spiritual Director, Loyola Jesuit Center“Ignatian spirituality is so perfectly suited for living every day spiritually that people from all walks of life are seeking out professionals who can guide them in the Spiritual Exercises, as they apply to everyday life,” says Delleart. “We get calls every week from people looking for spiritual directors.”
Formation cohorts will begin in January 2025 with the intention of offering certificates of completion in May of 2026. Successive cohorts will begin each September, qualifying new Ignatian spiritual directors every year.
The Loyola Jesuit Center has been offering retreats in the Catholic Ignatian tradition since 1927. Saint Joseph’s has been offering faculty, staff and alumni “The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius” for nearly 50 years. This unique collaboration between two storied Jesuit-sponsored ministries enables the offering and expansion of Ignatian spirituality and the Jesuit mission for decades to come.
For more information, email officeofmission@sju.edu or call Saint Joseph’s Office of Mission Programs at 610-660-3290.
