PHOTO: Benedictine Sister of Perpetual Adoration Maria Victoria Cutaia, OSB (front row, second from left) was a member of the most recent graduating class of Souljourners, an ecumenical formation program for spiritual directors. (Credit: Julie A Ferraro/Mount St. Scholastica)
Benedictine Sister of Perpetual Adoration Maria Victoria Cutaia, OSB graduated from the Souljourners program in August. Sister Maria Victoria is the vocation director for the congregation in Clyde, Missouri.
Souljourners is hosted by the Mount St. Scholastica Benedictine community at the Sophia Center in Atchison, Kansas. It is an ecumenical formation program for spiritual directors and includes two years of classwork, a year of practicum experience, a week-long residency in year one and two, and a small group process.
While typically a three-year program, Sister Maria Victoria’s program was delayed due to the COVID pandemic, which meant a portion of coursework was moved online. Activities included participation in discernment retreats and silent retreats, participation in weekend class sessions, reading and written assignments, and meetings with one spiritual directee. Topics of discussion and study included spiritual direction skill building, prayer and Benedictine values, and individual spiritual direction.
So with such an intensive program, those who opt to pursue the program are often motivated by an intense desire to be a spiritual director.
“It’s a privilege to walk with people on their spiritual path, with those who are seeking a deeper relationship with God,” Sister Maria Victoria said. “Helping them to discover what God is calling them to do or to be, to find God in the dailyness of their lives no matter what walk of life they’re on, is an important task and one I value with great respect.”
Sister Maria Victoria, who is bilingual, looks forward to helping men and women with spiritual direction in both English and Spanish. For more information about spiritual direction, please contact Sister Maria Victoria at sr.mariavictoria@bspa.us or (660) 944-2221. For more information about the Souljourners program, please click here. |
