THE ROLE OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTION IN THE UNFOLDING OF LEO DEHON'S CHARISM AS A FOUNDER

All the members of Leo Dehon's Congregation are familiar with his instructions about spiritual direction that are found in his Spiritual Directory: „A Religious without a spiritual Director would be a poor Religious and he will accomplish nothing worthwhile.”¹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote1sym%23sdfootnote1sym Later he quotes Bernard of Clairvaux: „The one who considers himself his own guide has made himself the disciple of a fool.”²⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote2sym%23sdfootnote2sym Father Dehon's high estimation of this practice is due in part to the universal testimony of the saints and spiritual authors, but it probably owes more to his own personal experience of direction. He drew up a list of the directors he had from his youth into old age and, in particular, he often expressed his lasting gratitude for the direction that he received from Melchior Freyd at the French Seminary in Rome. He considered Father Freyd as his true spiritual father and said that he obeyed him blindly. But a closer examination of the data casts doubt on the claim that he ever blindly submitted to Father Freyd's direction or that he had a spiritual director throughout his entire adult life.

As it is currently practiced, spiritual direction is significantly different from many of the methods that were used in the past. Among contemporary authors there is general agreement that the term itself is inadequate and misleading. It is neither „spiritual,” if this term is meant to exclude the intellectual, physical, social or political dimensions of the life of faith, nor is it „direction,” which implies that one person exercises authority over another's prayer, beliefs, choices or behavior.³⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote3sym%23sdfootnote3sym Often in the past, though this was by no means a universal practice, the director was considered an authority figure whose advice was to be obeyed. For example, Adolphe Tanquerey, the author of a manual on the spiritual life that was widely used in seminaries in the 20th century, wrote: „We should submit to his decision… our spiritual director may be mistaken, but we make no mistake in obeying him.”⁴⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote4sym%23sdfootnote4sym Although the term itself is too embedded in tradition to be changed or abandoned, in current practice it is understood quite simply as „the help one person gives to another to enable him to become himself in faith.”⁵⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote5sym%23sdfootnote5sym It is the guidance that a Christian who is more knowledgeable, more experienced, and more skilled in spiritual and psychological matters gives to another who requests assistance to help him grow in Christian maturity.⁶⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote6sym%23sdfootnote6sym In this sense the director is a guide and companion who accompanies another as he seeks to find and do the will of God. This was the kind of direction that Leo Dehon received from Father Freyd.⁷⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote7sym%23sdfootnote7sym

The Dehonian Archives contain a single, undated sheet of paper on which he listed „My Directors:” at La Capelle his mother, at Hazebrouck Father Dehaene, at Saint Sulpice in Paris Fathers Prével and Fouilhouze, in Rome Father Freyd, at Saint Quentin Father Gobaille, and later Fathers Modeste and Eschbach.⁸⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote8sym%23sdfootnote8sym Despite the unique and invaluable contribution that his mother made in his Christian formation, such maternal guidance is not what is meant by spiritual direction. The three priests who ministered to him during his high school and university years engaged in what is called „educative” spiritual direction in which an authoritative guide imparts theological, moral, and spiritual information to a neophyte. This is typical of initial formation and is not the type of spiritual direction an adult Christian needs or wants.⁹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote9sym%23sdfootnote9sym In Father Gobaille he recognized a very saintly priest who was completely unsuited for ministry in a large urban parish. He said of him: „He always edified me but he was not a great help in direction.”¹⁰⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote10sym%23sdfootnote10sym All the other priests whom he sought out later were not true spiritual directors but consultants whose advice he requested periodically and on specific issues.¹¹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote11sym%23sdfootnote11sym That leaves Father Melchior Freyd as the only person who genuinely functioned as a spiritual director in his life.

The first thing he says of him in his Memoirs is that his „direction has been one of the great graces in my life,” and the last thing he says upon learning of his death is, „Father Freyd died leaving me without a director.” „I was one of those who lost the most. Father Freyd had a paternal affection for me and even a genuine friendship. I was completely disheartened.”¹²⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote12sym%23sdfootnote12sym By its very nature spiritual direction is a private one-to-one conversation that is privileged by an obligation of secrecy that is akin to the seal of sacramental confession. Father Dehon has left us no detailed account of any of their discussions. But in one place or another in his Memoirs he has indirectly lifted a corner of the veil that shrouds their conversations and has given us a brief glimpse of some of their content.

During Leo's first year in the seminary Father Freyd gave him a copy of Francis Libermann's unpublished writings on prayer.¹³⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote13sym%23sdfootnote13sym Very quickly the young seminarian recognized that he had a natural affinity for Libermann's affective method of prayer, which consists in meditating on Christ in the gospel and allowing oneself to be interiorly touched and shaped by our Lord's words, behavior, attitudes or dispositions. Practiced over a period of time this leads the one who prays to be conformed to Christ, becoming like him by experiencing his sentiments, thoughts, feelings, and convictions. This prayerful process unites the believer with and in Christ and it unleashes the „dynamic influence of Christ on the Christian who is incorporated into him.”¹⁴⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote14sym%23sdfootnote14sym Union with Christ will become the overarching theme in Dehonian spirituality and this is borne out by the fact that in his later writings on almost one hundred occasions he will comment on Galatians 2: 20: „It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”¹⁵⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote15sym%23sdfootnote15sym

Looking back over the notes he kept during his first year in the seminary he drew up an account of his spiritual life, which he referred to as „the story of my heart and my will.” He notes: „Our Lord very quickly took hold of my interior life and put in place the dispositions that would become the principal attributes of my life.” He goes on to list them: devotion to the Sacred Heart, humility, conformity to God's will, union with him, and the life of love. Then in the space of a half-dozen handwritten pages the words „with him,” „in him,” „him in me,” and similar phrases recur over two dozen times.¹⁶⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote16sym%23sdfootnote16sym He concludes: „My saintly director, Father Freyd, constantly proposed this union as the goal I should strive for.”

These comments on the development of his spiritual life and prayer also shed light on process that Father Freyd employed in spiritual direction and the outcome he hoped to attain. They clearly indicate that he is not directing the seminarian to decisions or goals that he has predetermined for him. Instead he is helping him learn how to allow himself to be open to the presence of the Spirit so that he can hear the call of Christ in his life and feel the powerful attraction of divine love urging him on to the way of life that conforms to God's will and plan for him. In short, he is showing him how to let Christ be his Spiritual Director. Nowhere is this more evident than in Dehon's acknowledgment that „our Lord very quickly took hold of my interior life.”

Two of the most experienced practitioners of spiritual direction, Jesuits William Barry and William Connolly, are convinced the kind of experience that Father Dehon recounts from his seminary days is the essential matter of spiritual direction. They write: „Spiritual direction… is directly concerned with a person's actual experiences of his relationship with God… religious experience is to spiritual direction what foodstuff is to cooking. Without foodstuff there can be no cooking. Without religious experience there can be no spiritual direction.”¹⁷⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote17sym%23sdfootnote17sym The ultimate purpose of spiritual direction is to foster a person's union with God, so therefore its primary concern is with what happens when someone consciously puts himself in the presence of God. The director is interested in the whole person, but the focus of interest is the prayer experience of the one who is seeking guidance. Another Jesuit, when asked what he did as a spiritual director, replied: „I listen to people talk about their prayer.”¹⁸⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote18sym%23sdfootnote18sym It seems quite clear that this was the experience of Leo Dehon when he placed himself under the guidance of Father Freyd. He wrote: „From then on, almost every day I began to write down my impressions, which gave me a reliable way to retrace the course of God's actions and intentions on my poor soul.”¹⁹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote19sym%23sdfootnote19sym

In addition to his seminary notes, even greater insight into his experience of spiritual direction can be gleaned from the Dehon-Freyd correspondence. There are a handful of letters written during his summer vacations in which the seminarian often expresses his displeasure with the frivolity and coldness of „the world” and his longing for the atmosphere of recollection and tranquility in the seminary, and for the „excellent direction” of his spiritual father. Of more significance are the twenty-two extant letters they exchanged after Father Dehon moved back to France on August 1, 1871. From that time until Father Freyd's death on March 6, 1875, Leo Dehon faced three major vocational turning points and on each occasion he relied heavily on the counsel of the one he still considered his spiritual director.²⁰⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote20sym%23sdfootnote20sym

The three vocational questions he faced were: whether to join the Assumptionists (1871), whether to accept a position on the faculty of the new Catholic University at Lille (1874-1875), and whether to return to Rome where he would join the Spiritans and work at the French Seminary (1874-1875). These questions have been dealt with in great detail in his biographies and other studies. I propose to treat them schematically to highlight the role that spiritual direction played in each decision.²¹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote21sym%23sdfootnote21sym In each instance a resolution was reached in a similar way. First, there was a plan or a proposal offered to him which he found attractive; second, he investigated the facts and weighed the „pros” and „cons;” third, he reached a personal conclusion and then submitted this to his spiritual director or his bishop for confirmation and approval.

Assumptionists. Proposal. Emmanuel d'Alzon, founder of the Assumptionists, stayed at the French Seminary in Rome during Vatican I. Father Dehon remarked that his presence had revived his own interests in the apostolate of higher studies. The two men spoke often about the urgent need for Catholics to be trained in philosophy and the social sciences to combat the wide-spread errors in their native France. D'Alzon was forming plans for his congregation to play an active part in this revival. For ten years Dehon had felt an attraction to a vocation in higher education and had filled an 84 page notebook with his ideas on the subject. He wrote that he fully agreed with the older priest's ideas and began to consider joining him in this project.²²⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote22sym%23sdfootnote22sym

Discernment. When the Vatican Council was abruptly suspended on July 20, 1870, he returned to France and was forced to remain there during the winter because of the war and the subsequent occupation by the Prussian army. During this time Father d'Alzon launched an intense letter writing campaign to persuade the young priest to join the work he had begun at Nîmes. He enlisted the aid of Charles Désaire, a friend and fellow student with Father Dehon, who had already decided to make this commitment. Together they sent him twenty-two letters between July 1870 and October 1871. For his part Father Dehon insisted on completing his studies in Rome before he would make a final decision. He knew he wanted to be a Religious and he also was convinced the time was ripe for the church to rededicate itself to the apostolate of higher studies. Uniting these two convictions, it seemed that his vocation was calling him to enter a religious community devoted to this ministry. He felt an inclination towards the Assumptionists, but simultaneously experienced doubts and hesitations.²³⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote23sym%23sdfootnote23sym

His uneasiness manifested itself in three ways.²⁴⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote24sym%23sdfootnote24sym First, he was concerned about Father d'Alzon's temperament. The insistent, even frantic, appeals in his letters seemed to betray a personality that could be overbearing and obstinate. Dehon wrote of him: „Father d'Alzon seemed to understand and appreciate my proposals, but basically he remained a man of action, I should dare to say of agitation, in the best sense of the word, rather than a man of studies.”²⁵⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote25sym%23sdfootnote25sym „The plan for an apostolate of studies filled me with enthusiasm, Father d'Alzon's style was worrisome; I was accustomed to more calm and interior life.”²⁶⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote26sym%23sdfootnote26sym Secondly, he was concerned about the spirit of the Assumptionists and the type of formation he would receive. He wanted to make a full canonical novitiate, but at one point Father d'Alzon proposed „a simulated novitiate… [of] a few months,” then later reduced it to two months.²⁷⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote27sym%23sdfootnote27sym A few weeks before Dehon's expected arrival d'Alzon told him that he wanted to give the classes in the novitiate but he didn't have the time to write them out. Instead he suggested they hold private discussions in which he would explain the essential spirit of the Assumptionists and then Dehon could draw up the lessons for his own novitiate.²⁸⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote28sym%23sdfootnote28sym The third area of his concern was over the prospects for the success of the Assumptionist project. Father Dehon believed this was possible only if their commitment to this work was „determined, deeply rooted, generous, and uncompromising, . . . excluding almost all others.” He was equally convinced that the training of the teachers should be „complete, specialized, unperturbed, and free of all other concerns. Half-way measures would probably do more harm than good.”²⁹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote29sym%23sdfootnote29sym And of course their studies should take place in Rome. Father d'Alzon, however, was in favor of diversified ministries which would serve as „an escape valve for those who could teach [only] for a period of time.” And his commitment to Roman studies was not as thorough as Father Dehon's.³⁰⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote30sym%23sdfootnote30sym

Decision. By mid-March 1871 peace had been restored in France and Leo Dehon returned to Rome by way of Nîmes, where he stayed five days. He was happy to see how things worked there and he recorded that his impression was „rather favorable,” but he left with his „hesitations intact.”³¹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote31sym%23sdfootnote31sym At the French Seminary the acting superior noted that he was „almost committed” to the Assumptionists but that he thought Father d'Alzon „was lacking some qualities and was somewhat excitable.”³²⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote32sym%23sdfootnote32sym Father Freyd, still delayed in Alsace, wrote to calm Dehon's anxieties: „You have been to Nîmes and you have seen for yourself . . . what you say . . . of your impressions makes me believe that you can prudently commit yourself to this. You know, my dear friend, that I distrust flights of fancy. Despite your apparent calm, your imagination is flared up . . . Now that you know the terrain and you still feel the same attraction, I will say to you with confidence: yes, go to Nîmes.”³³⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote33sym%23sdfootnote33sym Despite the apparent approval of his spiritual director, the same objections persisted in troubling Father Dehon. Before his return home he made a „vocation” retreat with the General Superior of the Redemptionists.³⁴⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote34sym%23sdfootnote34sym

During his vacation, just two weeks prior to his scheduled departure, he visited the Catholic University in Louvain to learn how a well-established school is organized. He had interviews with top administrators and some faculty and was especially impressed with the quality of the departments of theology and canon law. He also gathered information about the library, housing, budgets, and salaries.³⁵⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote35sym%23sdfootnote35sym The investigation at Louvain tipped the scales. He wrote: „I was preparing to leave, but I was no longer at peace. I experienced unspeakable anguish . . . I couldn't stand it any longer. I was unable to leave.”³⁶⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote36sym%23sdfootnote36sym He sent a letter to Father Freyd explaining that Louvain convinced him that a Religious congregation would be unable to run a university in France; it would require the initiative of the bishops and the approval of Rome. He also repeated his usual hesitations regarding Father d'Alzon, his weak spiritual formation program, and his preference for action over study. He implored him to answer by telegraph because he was supposed to leave within a week.³⁷⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote37sym%23sdfootnote37sym Days later his reply arrived: „Your hesitations are legitimate. It would be better to get out of it if you can.”³⁸⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote38sym%23sdfootnote38sym

Three weeks later he sent a longer letter: „I believe that you have done what, for the time being, is most in accord with the will of God. The future will show us more clearly what the Lord is ultimately asking of you.” He goes on to assure him that both he and the General Superior of the Redemptorists originally gave their consent with regret because they believed that he had seriously desired to join the Assumptionists. For now he counseled him: „Keep your heart truly united to God… When our soul is borne on the wings of prayer and holy abandonment to the will of the divine Master, we sail along in peace and security.”³⁹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote39sym%23sdfootnote39sym

Lille. Proposal. In the early years of the Third Republic the new government was dominated by conservatives, some of whom were even monarchists. Catholics sensed that the time was ripe to repeal the law prohibiting Free Universities, that is, those that were not under state control. In Angers, Poitiers, Lille, and elsewhere plans were being drawn up to establish Catholic universities. Father Hautcoeur, who was organizing the project in Lille, knew of Leo Dehon and his interest in higher education. In early 1872 he invited the young priest to collaborate on a theological journal he edited and held out the prospect that this might lead to the establishment of a theological school. Two years later he began a correspondence that was as intense as Father d'Alzon's had been. Although Father Dehon believed in the value of the project and was „strongly inclined” to accept the invitation, his inital reply to Hautcoeur was deliberately evasive while he awaited the advice his spiritual director would send him.⁴⁰⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote40sym%23sdfootnote40sym

Discernment. Father Freyd was rigidly opposed to the creation of Catholic universities in France. His avowed reason was fear that they would become havens of Jansenism and Gallicanism as they had been in the past, but he also seems to have harbored a tacit fear of the competition they would pose to his congregation's seminary in Rome. Later in his Memoirs Father Dehon repeatedly disputes his spiritual director's opinion and, in one of his last letters to him, asserted that „higher education seems to me to be one of the great means for remaking a Christian society.”⁴¹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote41sym%23sdfootnote41sym Both men agreed, however, it would be unconscionable for him to abandon his apostolic works without guaranteeing their future. He would try for two years to find a suitable replacement but his efforts were without success.

He replied to Father Hautcoeur: „Once again I have weighed the 'pros' and 'cons' and I have come back to my original decision which is final. For the time being I will remain here to give all the works I have undertaken a more solid footing and if in a year's time you still need me, I do not doubt that I will be able to help you.”⁴²⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote42sym%23sdfootnote42sym This is a pattern that will be repeated several times over the course of the following year: he is willing to join the university, but he cannot abandon his works, perhaps in the near future the situation will change. Later Father Dehon would appeal to the bishop and his council to consider the matter not only from „the interests of the diocese but those of the university, which is a major work.” Fully expecting their opposition, he tried to soften the blow, telling Hautcoeur: „We must see it as God's will manifested through my Superiors. In a year's time much can happen to change the situation and lead to a different decision.”⁴³⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote43sym%23sdfootnote43sym A year later, however, the situation had not changed, so he encouraged Hautcoeur to appeal directly to the bishop to send him to Lille. „His initial response will certainly be a blunt refusal. Be insistent and try to convince him. I will abide by his decision.”⁴⁴⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote44sym%23sdfootnote44sym But soon there would be a new bishop of Soissons, Odon Thibaudier, who quickly recognized Dehon's value to the diocese and made him an honorary Canon to solidify his place there.

Decision. Although at one point he admits to having „some agonizing days”⁴⁵⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote45sym%23sdfootnote45sym over the decision whether to go to Lille, throughout the two year ordeal he never experienced the inner turmoil and profound doubts that persisted during his deliberations about the Assumptionists. He was thoroughly convinced of the urgent need for Catholic universities and he had complete confidence in Father Hautcoeur's ability to successfully accomplish his goal. The sole obstacle that prevented him from accepting this attractive proposal was his inability to find someone to continue the social works he had begun at Saint Quentin. „I have tried a hundred times to find a priest or some Religious for my apostolate among the workers. I still haven't found anyone.”⁴⁶⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote46sym%23sdfootnote46sym But the frustration at each failure to find a replacement was accompanied by a hopeful „for the time being” which envisioned the possibility of new circumstances that would favor a different decision. In the meantime Father Dehon was watching and waiting for God's will to be reveal in the events of his life. And both his spiritual director and his bishop confirmed him in this decision „to wait on the Lord.”

Spiritans. Proposal. Towards the end of 1874 his correspondence with Father Freyd became more frequent and took a surprising turn. In late November he sent him a fairly typical letter in which he expressed frustration over his inability to find a replacement, then he confided that he had „a heavy heart” when he read the newspaper account of the priest who took his place at Lille, and finally he repeated his long-standing desire to become a Religious. „In particular I regret the thousands of imperfections and faults that I would have avoided in a strict Religious order.”⁴⁷⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote47sym%23sdfootnote47sym Responding four days later, Father Freyd mentions the names of some priests who might be able to help him, then, out of the blue, he adds, „If you are in such a hurry and truly want to live in the Religious life, come here… Here you will find the two things you are longing for: Religious life and the opportunity to make use of the special knowledge you have acquired.”⁴⁸⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote48sym%23sdfootnote48sym

He even held out the prospect that he would use his personal authority to have him appointed as his successor at the seminary.

Discernment. Father Dehon answered immediately expressing surprise, delight, and hesitation. „What you propose would be paradise for me. To be in Rome, to have the advantages of Religious life, the leisure to study, all these things please me immensely. But is it God's will? I risk compromising everything.”⁴⁹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote49sym%23sdfootnote49sym Then, in typical fashion, he lists the „pros” and „cons.” On the negative side, he cites the Roman climate which does not agree with him, he would get a reputation of being fickle if he did not persevere, his family and the bishop would be opposed, and, above all, his apostolic works would suffer. Positively, he expressed his esteem for the seminary, the Religious congregation, and the kind of work he would be doing. „Here I am only a soldier, at Lille I would be an officer, in Rome I would be like a general in the army responsible for the formation of the officers who then would come to teach the troops in our universities.” He concludes: „I am eagerly awaiting your response to all these questions and I hope that you will help me know the will of God.”

In Father Freyd's reply, which would be the last letter he would receive from him, he tells his spiritual son that ever since his days in the seminary he thought that his place would be there, but he hesitated to mention this because he also thought that he would make a good bishop and he did not want to jeopardize that opportunity. He then goes on to repeat the reasons for and against joining him in Rome and he concludes, „I have the moral certitude, not metaphysical, that you are called to work here.”⁵⁰⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote50sym%23sdfootnote50sym Father Dehon would write to him in January restating all the usual arguments but emphasizing the great hardship it would cause if he were to leave Saint Quentin. He closes on a note of affection and confidence: „All these, my dear Father, are not final decisions but a plea that you consider them. I am asking you to weigh and examine them carefully. Then you can tell me what you think of it.”⁵¹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote51sym%23sdfootnote51sym

Decision. In his Memoirs he notes that he accepted the final advice of his spiritual director and tried to carry it out. „But divine Providence changed everything. On 6 March Father Freyd died unexpectedly . . . Father Eschbach succeeded him. It was a complete change.”⁵²⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote52sym%23sdfootnote52sym Later that year he consulted several Jesuits and Father Eschbach about his vocational discernment. All of them gave him sound advice to seek the will of God patiently and prayerfully. The following year he made another retreat in the hope of resolving this question.⁵³⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote53sym%23sdfootnote53sym But the same impasse remained: he wanted to live in Religious life but he could find no one to take responsibility for his social apostolates. He would make one final attempt to enter a Religious congregation. Accompanying Bishop Thibaudier on his ad limina visit in February 1877, he asked to remain in Rome to study but he secretly wanted to use this as the opportunity to join the Spiritans. The bishop flatly refused.⁵⁴⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote54sym%23sdfootnote54sym It was also on this trip that he visited Loretto where he said he received the inspiration to found his own congregation.⁵⁵⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote55sym%23sdfootnote55sym

Conclusion. From the evidence that is available it seems quite clear that the spiritual direction that Father Freyd gave to Leo Dehon bore no resemblance to the authoritarian methods that required unquestioning obedience of a „subject” to his spiritual „master.” Instead, his direction followed the fundamental principle of Francis Libermann, the founder of his congregation, who taught that „the director is only an instrument in the service of the Holy Spirit… A director should refrain from wanting to lead a soul; it is up to God to lead him.”⁵⁶⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote56sym%23sdfootnote56sym To achieve this he guided the seminarian to a way of prayer in which he could experience the action of God on his soul. From the beginning Leo began to write down the impressions he experienced in prayer as a way of tracing the quality of his union with God and noting what still needed improvement. A half hour to an hour of interior prayer became a lifelong practice.

His experience in prayer also provided him with a perspective from which he could gauge the significance of the events that took place in his life. In each of the three vocational questions he faced in the early 1870s, although he experienced either anguish or conflicting emotions, the dilemma was resolved in each instance by his interpretation of an event that took place. His fact-finding visit to Louvain convinced him that Father d'Alzon's project could not succeed. After he explained this to Father Freyd and received his telegram, he wrote, „Everything has changed.”⁵⁷⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote57sym%23sdfootnote57sym The „unspeakable anguish” he felt and Father Freyd's telegram merely confirmed and ratified his personal conviction about the situation, they didn't cause it. Likewise, his passionate enthusiasm for the revival of Catholic universities in France was not transformed into a personal commitment to this work by Hautcoeur's persistent pleading, nor was Freyd's equally passionate opposition to Catholic universities decisive in his refusal. His decision to remain in place was determined by the undeniable fact that the apostolic works he had begun would collapse if he or a suitable replacement were not there to guide them. The bishop and his spiritual director confirmed him in this decision. Neither Father Freyd's „heavenly proposal” that he come to the French seminary and join the Spiritans, which would have satisfied his two greatest longings, nor his spiritual director's „moral certitude” that his vocation lay there could dissuade him from his personal conviction that God's will was being revealed to him in his responsibility for his works in Saint Quentin. While he was still in the midst of laying out his case, Father Freyd died and Father Eschbach became rector. Once again he wrote in his Memoirs: „Divine Providence changed everything.”⁵⁸⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote58sym%23sdfootnote58sym

In each of these instances, although he was spiritually motivated to do a good work for God, instead he abandoned them and resigned himself to do God's work as it was revealed in his lived experience. These decisions were acts of self-oblation to the will of God in which he lovingly gave himself up to the call of divine love. They were acts of immolation in which he literally sacrificed his heart's desire on the altar of God's heart. The vocational choices he made in the early 1870s schooled him in the spirituality that led him to found his own congregation. It was a spirituality that was forged in the crucible of events beyond his control to which he generously submitted his will as he waited for God's plan to become more apparent. The key words of Dehonian spirituality – pure love, oblation, abandonment, immolation – arose out of his experience of the interplay of God's movement in his life and his own heart-felt response. A key to understanding the source of this spirituality lies in the spiritual direction of Melchior Freyd whose goal was to teach him a method of prayer whereby he would be sensitive to the movement of God in his soul, which then would enable him to discern God's presence in the events of his life and to act in union with Him.⁵⁹⁾http://www.scj.org/scj_homp/we-scj/beatification_dehon/30-direzione_spirituale-mcguire.html#sdfootnote59sym%23sdfootnote59sym

Paul J. McGuire, S.C.J.

Dehon Study Center