Spiritual Direction
What is Spiritual Direction?
Maybe you’ve asked yourself…
- Why don’t I feel close to God?
- How can I find time for prayer in my busy life?
- Why do I find myself suddenly unable to pray? Why is my prayer dry? Why do I feel restless?
- Where was God when I needed help during a difficult time in my life?
- How can I go on after the loss of a loved one?
- Is God calling me to service for the poor, the immigrant, the marginalized people in the world?
- Is God calling me to a vocation in the diaconate, the priesthood, or as a religious sister?
- Is God calling me to marriage…to a family…to commit to single life?
Spiritual direction might be the answer.
A Spiritual Director helps another person speak directly with and listen to what God is communicating. The focus of spiritual direction is the relationship between God and the person. Spiritual direction helps not so much to understand that relationship better, but to engage in it, to enter into dialogue with God. Spiritual direction enables a person to notice God’s presence in prayer and in life.
Our Spiritual Directors
You don’t have to walk alone. If you’d like to meet with one of our Ignatian-trained spiritual directors, please reach out to them directly through their contact information below.
Stephanie Clouatre Davis
Stephanie Clouatre Davis, OPA, an Ignatian trained spiritual director and associate with the Dominican Sisters of Peace, dances between her love for youth and adult ministry. In her more than 20 years of ministry for the Catholic Church, she has directed hundreds of retreats and spoken at many conferences for adults, teens, and young adults. As co-founder of Women of the Well, a ministry accompanying women to deep waters, Stephanie spends many of her days walking with people in spiritual direction. She lives with her family in Covington, Louisiana.
Becky Eldredge
Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the book Busy Lives and Restless Souls, published in March 2017 by Loyola Press. She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction.
With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.
Contact Becky:
becky at beckyeldredge.com
Wendy Enloe
Wendy Enloe is a spiritual director and the Director of Adult Faith Formation at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, a growing parish in south Louisiana. As an instructor for the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center Spiritual Direction Internship program in New Orleans and for the Diocese of Baton Rouge Ministry and Theology Certification program Wendy shares her passion for spiritual direction, spirituality, and prayer with adults in formation. Wendy holds a Master of Religious Education from Loyola’s Institute for Ministry in New Orleans, a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center in New Orleans, and a graduate Certificate in Spiritual Direction from Creighton University.
Contact Wendy:
wenloe at olohr.com
Faye Coorpender
Faye Coorpender is a Spiritual Director at the St. Joseph Spirituality Center in Baton Rouge, LA. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Florida, and a certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Archdiocese of New Orleans. She is a retired high school teacher of English Literature and Theology, and has worked for many years in youth ministry, RCIA, and Faith Formation. Faye says that the personal fulfillment that she received in on-going Spiritual Direction inspired her to become a spiritual director and she considers the privilege of accompanying others on their spiritual journeys to be one of the greatest blessings in her life. Faye and her husband, Bill, have three adult children and six grandchildren.
Contact Faye:
faye.coorpender at gmail.com
Melinda Leblanc
Melinda is an Ignatian-trained Spiritual Director who is passionate about helping others deepen their relationship with God through individual direction, group faith sharing, and retreats. She received her certification in Spiritual Direction from the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center in New Orleans in 2012. She also holds a Masters of Pastoral Studies degree from Loyola University. Most recently, she served as spiritual director and campus minister at Christ the King parish at LSU, and was on staff at the St. Joseph Spirituality Center. She also serves in the Women of the Well ministry and is currently on the board of the Louisiana Association of Spiritual Directors. She and her husband Darrel live in Baton Rouge and enjoy birdwatching and fishing.
Contact Melinda:
melindaleblancsd at gmail.com
Claudia Maxson
Location: Â Baton Rouge or Online
Claudia Maxson is a certified Ignatian spiritual director and a member of the core team of the Women of the Well. She recently retired from teaching Morality to adolescents at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She served her Catholic High School community not only as a teacher, but also as a spiritual director for faculty and students, an assistant campus minister, a retreat leader, and an annulment advocate through the tribunal of the Diocese of Baton Rouge. She holds a Masters of Pastoral Studies from Loyola University – New Orleans. Claudia lives with her husband, Craig and has two adult children and one grandchild.
claudia.maxson80 at gmail.com
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Spiritual Direction?
A spiritual director is one who accompanies an individual seeking a deeper relationship with God, assisting the individual in recognizing and then following what God is asking of them.
Who Can Benefit from Spiritual Direction?
- Is interested in developing a closer relationship with God.
- Is struggling with spiritual issues, questions, doubts.
- Wants to find God in daily life.
- Already has a habit of daily prayer but desires a deeper relationship with God.
- Who desires greater self-knowledge.
What are some benefits of Spiritual Direction?
- Peace and serenity about one’s direction in life.
- More clarity about making decisions in accordance with God’s desire.
- A greater sense of spiritual freedom.
- More spiritual energy for coping with life’s problems.
- The support of a spiritual companion.
What do you discuss with your Spiritual Director?
- Your desires and hopes to love and serve God.
- Your struggles with needing forgiveness, healing, accepting life circumstances.
- Your questions about God and prayer.
- Your experience of God’s presence or absence in daily life.