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This book asks how early Christian monastic writers conceived of, represented, and experienced spiritual direction, and its central argument is that they did so medically. Late antique monastic formation took place through asymmetrical relationships of governance and submission worked out in confession, discipline, and advice. This study situates those practices against the cultural and intellectual world of the late antique Mediterranean. In conversation with a biopsychosocial model of health and Urie Bronfenbrenner’s “bioecological” model of development, the first chapter explores the logic of Galenic medicine (2nd c.): the goal of good health, a widely ranging theory of human nature, diagnostic strategies, and therapeutic techniques. The next four chapters show how this logic operates in Evagrius Ponticus’ (4th c.) interpretation of dream imagery and demonic attack, in John Cassian’s (5th c.) analysis of wet dreams, in Cassian’s nosology of vices, and in John Climacus’ (7th c.) demonic pathologies of passions. The second half of the book engages Paul Ricoeur’s theory of metaphor to show that spiritual directors claim trust and obedience by cultivating expertise along medical lines. This begins with a study of self-representation and popular perceptions of physicians as experts over human bodies and souls, which is then applied to Basil of Caesarea’s (4th c.) advice on when and whether ascetic Christians should seek medical assistance, to Cassian’s tales of spiritual direction in Egyptian monasticism and the Apostle Paul’s therapeutic hierarchy, and to John Climacus’ multiple metaphors of spiritual direction in a monastery reconceived as clinic.

In the formation of priestly candidates, there are 2 (two) important inseparable dimensions, namely, intellectual formation and spiritual direction. In the reality, how can we justify the empirical relationship between the faith of Jesus Christ with the life of prayer of the holy ordination candidate? What is the real contribution to the advancement of the priestly candidates' formation at the high seminary? To solve that problem, we take a quantitative descriptive research with the approach of descriptive analysis. In this way, we investigate the relationship between the variable of the faith of Jesus Christ, Son of God with the life of prayer of CSE Brothers. We have confidence that the relationship between the faith of Jesus Christ and the life of prayer will bring the priestly candidates for the living encounter with God in Christ and it will change their life entirely. For that reason, we formulate a minor hypothesis as follows. The Encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God as a Spiritual Foundation for the CSE Brothers at Scholastic Community in Landak, West - Borneo. The result of the research explains that the minor hypotheses can be accepted. We record that there is a significant relationship between the faith of Jesus Christ, Son of God with the life of prayer of CSE Brothers at Scholastic Community in Landak, West - Borneo. There is a positive relationship between the faith of Jesus Christ, Son of God with the life of prayer of CSE Brothers at Scholastic Community in Landak with the percentage scale between 63% and 55%.

The article contains general review of the state of Australian education in context of teaching subjects of religious direction; historical review of system of education is done, since the times of land settlement of the continent; key changes that happened in Australian society regarding reinterpretation of the place of subjects of spiritual direction in the educational state program were highlighted. Key reasons the caused the transformation of understanding of importance of teaching religion in state educational establishments are defined and described, these are demographical changes that happened in Australian society after the World War II and eventually led to necessity of upbringing the ability of understanding and respect of citizens towards the representatives of different beliefs and values, forming cultural pluralism in pupils of these schools, which is the determinative feature and demand towards democratic society and transformation from catechistic approaches towards pedagogical approaches in teaching subjects of spiritual upbringing, which had its main feature in forming the pupil’s ability to manifest positive influence of religion for the development of the society; to understand peculiarities of basic church traditions and educate tolerance and sense of respect for all religions as representatives and providers of all-human values. Result of rethinking by Australian society for the important role of religion for the democratic development of the state is indicated, which led to the practice of studying according subjects of spiritual direction in state schools, having given for the pupils the chance to receive knowledge and abilities as result of studying miscellaneous religious beliefs. The review is done regarding opportunities and conditions for teaching religion in educational establishments of Australia by representatives of religious confessions; principles of choice of the content of program of subject of spiritual direction and criteria for its estimation by school administration and also the keeping of democratic rights of parents and pupils, that content the freedom of choice towards of subjects of this kind are noted. The article contains the presumption that the experience of teaching subjects of spiritual direction can be valuable for Ukrainian education at modern stage of its development in the context of value-directed education of pupils of secondary schools.Key words: Australia, religious education, democracy, multi-confession, multi-culture, cultural pluralism, state schools, teaching religion, catechistic approaches, pedagogical approaches.

This article examines the manuscripts into which compilers bound Dominican letters of spiritual direction in fifteenth-century Italy. It argues that manuscript compilers sought to model Observant Dominican sanctity after Jerome's late antique practice of writing letters of spiritual direction to women. The paper aims to contribute to the growing conversation around the development and spread of an Observant Dominican identity by demonstrating that compilers modeled Observant beati after Jerome's authoritative persona in order to argue for the ancient precedent of the reformers’ often controversial agendas, chief among them their active ministry to women.

El libro de Tobías ha sido recibido por la tradición de la iglesia como un verdadero manual de dirección espiritual. El presente artículo trata de identificar algunas de las enseñanzas que el camino que emprende Tobías acompañado por el ángel Rafael puede aportar a una visión renovada del acompañamiento espiritual. El autor utiliza una metodología interdisciplinar basada en tres instrumentos: el análisis exegético del relato, las aportaciones de algunos maestros en psicología y espiritualidad, y la experiencia propia del trabajo con jóvenes.

The transnational religious thought of Salafi Wahabi has received a significant response from some Muslims in Sintang City. The response, among others, is marked by the establishment of a Salafi Study Center at Abu Bakr mosque that has influenced some congregations of the surrounding mosques such as al-Amin mosque, Nur Mosque, and al-Muttaqin Mosque in Kampung Ladang area. In addition, another religious thought of Jamaah Tabliqh also gets adherents from the surrounding community in Masuka. They have set up a mosque to accommodate their religious activities. The positive response to the transnational religious thought has also been found in the hinterland of Ketungau Hilir and Tempunak sub-districts in Sintang City area. This work discusses the roles of Penghulu (the official Islamic religious leaders) in Sintang District in responding to the growing of the transnational religious thought. Based on qualitative data and analysis gathered in the field, the work suggests that the marriage administers (the penghulu) have not shown their satisfying performance with well structured programs. In fact, the penghulu sets in a strategic position within the society. They have focused more on marriage counselling as their services to religious guidance to the community. Special programs for spiritual direction with a broader range of materials have not been attracting their attention due to their limited time allocated and facilities available. Therefore, this work recommends that it is urgent to initiate the construction of knowledge that is not easily to be exposed by transnational religious traditions that tend to act radically. The penghulu may better provide insight into Islamic moderation or moderate Islam to the community in the region.

Aims: To investigate the relationship between spiritual coping strategies and quality of life in persons with a hip fracture., Design: A correlational, cross-sectional survey design., Methods: The total population of Maltese-speaking adults over 65 years (N = 299), with a hip fracture receiving treatment in a public hospital in Malta in 2015, were invited. The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale were used., Results: A response rate of 51% (n = 147) was achieved. The poorest quality of life was for the physical and psychological domains. Spiritual coping strategies were as- sociated with better quality of life with the exception of physical quality of life. Non- religious coping strategies were the stronger predictor of quality of life compared with religious coping strategies. The former predicted physical, psychological, envi- ronmental, social and overall quality of life., Conclusion: Hip fractures have serious implications on quality of life which could be improved by promoting non-religious spiritual coping strategies., N/A

Boredom in prayer or in a spiritual discipline can be a common experience among people of faith. Questions arise about what is going wrong, and some may stop their practice altogether. Believers bring their histories and personalities to the devotional moment, which may account for some of this boredom. D. W. Winnicott and spiritual theology reveal the underlying dynamics at play in certain types of boredom and offer practical methodology for discernment and navigation through such experiences. Spiritual theology indicates that boredom in prayer may be a result of sin, God-initiated purgation, or a developmental capacity or deficit. In cases of developmental capacity or deficit, spiritual theology does not fully explain why the deficit exists or how to develop that capacity. Psychoanalytic theory bolsters spiritual theology by providing a deeper understanding of such boredom experiences and a methodology for working with them. Case studies from psychoanalytic theory and spiritual direction amplify theoretical concepts by providing examples of practical applications.

The core feature of the spiritual life is human and divine desiring. Understanding and facing our desires as well as comprehending the desires of the Divine, remain a struggle for the human soul. Spiritual directors are likely to spend a considerable amount of time on this struggle and need to develop great skill in recognizing and responding to their directees’ desire for God and in helping them discern and unveil the illusory desires. This article explores the theories and insights of the spiritual stage theory from Islam through Sufism using the psychology of Al-Hakim al Tirmidhi and Christianity through Teresa of Avila, and the spiritual direction best suited for spiritual directees at the different stages. The exchange of both of these approaches presented here can perhaps enrich the spiritual directors’ style to travellers along the spiritual journey who come to them for direction. This mystical spirituality, articulated in Sufism from the Stations (maqamat) of Hakim Al-Tirmidhi and the mansions of Teresa of Avila, though experienced within different spiritual frameworks, brings a commonality in the exchange between them. Their experience of God both as directees and as Shaykh or Spiritual Director has much to offer to present day spiritual directors.

The relevance of the article is caused by the changes occurring in Kazakhstan related to the strategic direction of the country’s development in order to be included in the top 30 most developed countries in the world. Therefore, in order to achieve this high goal, it is necessary to successfully implement the “Digital Kazakhstan” program, but one should not forget about the spiritual direction of development, therefore the “Rouhani Zhangyru” program is being introduced in the country. An important problem is the fact that it is the modernization of society and the country in the main directions that will help en-sure the global sustainable competitiveness of the country in the global space. In this regard, the issues of diversification of financing of the real sector of the economy were considered, where efforts should be directed towards the growth and strengthening of the positions of the private sector and small and medium-sized businesses. However, in the digitalization age, large investments are required for the de-velopment of IT technologies in various key sectors of the country’s economy. The purpose of this article is to consider alternative sources of financing in the market that will contribute to the competitiveness and sustainability of a country in a global world where there are chain reactions during crises. The results of the research are presented in the work. The statistical data on the production volume of the real sec-tor from 2013–2017 were considered, and based on the results of the study, a model of the mechanism for the implementation of an alternative financing method was proposed, i.e. Islamic finance, which is based on spiritual moral and ethical principles. And the work presents key changes in the economy that will be caused by a wide active introduction of Islamic finance.