Art of Accompaniment training an introduction to spiritual direction

The Diocese of Fargo is excited to host Father Boniface Hicks for two events at Maryvale Retreat Center, near Valley City. The first is a Made for Greatness men’s retreat July 18–20. The second is the Art of Accompaniment training July 21–25.  

Leading these events is Father Hicks, a Benedictine monk and priest at St. Vincent Arch Abbey in Latrobe, Pa. and a spiritual director for St. Vincent Seminary. 

“I was an unbaptized atheist when I arrived at Penn State,” said Father Hicks in a Real Presence Radio interview Apr. 3. “I was mildly curious about the faith, but didn’t have much engagement with it. Although some of my friends were going to Mass, they weren’t really in a position to defend or explain their faith. But I was sitting under a tree one day the summer after my freshman year, and a total stranger came up to me and invited me to study the Bible with him one-on-one. He provided that one-on-one accompaniment for the next three years, but that first year was critical for me to come to know Jesus.” 

He quickly started thinking about a vocation to the priesthood and received spiritual direction from the campus minister, who helped him to discern and eventually enter the monastery. Ever since, spiritual direction has been a regular part of his formation. 

According to Father Hicks and his spiritual director, Father Tom Acklin, who co-wrote, Spiritual Direction, A Guide for Sharing the Father’s Love, “spiritual direction is a one-on-one relationship between a director and a directee, in which the principal focus of the relationship is on the directee’s relationship with God.” 

“Spiritual direction is a relationship,” he said. “It’s not a question-and-answer format. It’s not problem-oriented or solution-oriented. It’s not about getting instructions from somebody that we carry out under obedience. I actually prefer the term ‘spiritual father’ or ‘spiritual mother.’ I think it’s a little bit more descriptive of how formative the relationship itself is.” 

For Father Hicks, being a spiritual director is “a real source of life.” 

“I’m regularly being nourished by those relationships, not because somebody is listening to me, but because I have the privilege of holding so many tender hearts and helping people to understand where their heart is and where God is in their hearts. That experience is so nourishing for me.” 

For a time in his life, he wasn’t giving spiritual direction and found that the lack of that experience walking with others affected his own relationship with God. 

“I felt like I was not processing my own interior life as well because I wasn’t listening to the interior life of others. It really is so enriching to see how God is working in someone else’s heart, even to shine a mirror into my own.” 

In the Art of Accompaniment training, students will learn how to help others pray better, grow in their relationships with God, and heal from their wounds by accompanying others on their spiritual journeys to become better Christians. This course is for anyone who wants to develop a deeper understanding of the interior life, an understanding of the dynamics of growth in the spiritual life, and a listening heart to help others on that journey. 

For anyone interested in the training but is concerned about the commitment involved, Father Hicks said: “I would really clear the time. It’s a fair amount of content during the day, although it’s the kind of content that people find really gets into the heart. When we are working in the interior, we feel seen and supported when we’re surrounded by other people who are doing the same thing. It’s a reverent environment. There’s a sweetness and a tenderness to it.” 

The week will included time in the evenings to decompress and talk with other participants. There will also be opportunities to practice spiritual direction.  

“People have found that one-on-one with another participant to listen to each other and be received at an individual level is really helpful. This kind of course is life-changing for many people. The opportunity to understand the movements of your own heart, to have language around that, and have deeper insight into the people around you is really transformational.” 

Accompanying someone in their relationship with God is not just for priests and religious but for everyone. In The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis declared: “The Church will have to initiate everyone—priests, religious and laity—into this ‘art of accompaniment’ which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other (cf. Ex 3:5). The pace of this accompaniment must be steady and reassuring, reflecting our closeness and our compassionate gaze which also heals, liberates, and encourages growth in the Christian life” (Evangelii Gaudium 169). 

“Everybody is in a position to accompany somebody,” said Father Hicks. “Learning how to listen, the movements of the heart, the growth in the spiritual life, and spending time with other people who are interested in that will help you no matter who you are or what you’re doing. Certainly if you’re in a position where you have your own spiritual director and you want to begin to share that gift, I encourage you to come.” 

For more information, visit www.fargodiocese.org/aoa