Description
Joy can be described as the affective state of a person who is gladdened because he is in conscious possession of a good. In this broad sense, it is a synonym for ‘pleasure.’ In a more restricted sense, however, the term ‘joy’ can be reserved for that delight which is caused by spiritual goods. Writing that “to rejoice in Lent really means to struggle consistently against the flesh, to be removed from personal autonomy, and to be attached totally to Christ,” Benedictine Father Kurt Belsole notes that “Saint Benedict’s recommendation of joy in Lent, both as offering something extra with the joy of the Holy Spirit and awaiting Holy Easter with the joy of spiritual desire, is an original contribution to Western monastic literature. It is not to be found in other monastic rules which preceded Benedict’s, and which would have been a source to him while writing his Rule. Joy in Lent implies an unconditional preference for and attachment to Christ. Joy, love, peace and the other characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit are signs of the life of Christ in the Christian, and in this case, in the monk.”
This book, based on Father Kurt’s doctoral dissertation, has been influential to many Benedictines, including Father Donald Raila, O.S.B., director of the Saint Vincent Archabbey Oblate program, who wrote a book rooted in Father Kurt’s work, entitled Joy in the Life of a Follower of Saint Benedict. Father Donald’s book, published in 2022, has revived interest in Father Kurt’s dissertation and the book that resulted from it, and the publisher of Father Donald’s work has now reprinted the original “Joy in Lent” by Father Kurt.
Father Kurt Belsole, O.S.B., a monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, has been director of liturgy for the Pontifical North American College, Rome since 2007, and before that, held numerous roles at Saint Vincent Seminary, Latrobe, including rector and academic dean. A native of St. Marys, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Saint Vincent Preparatory School, then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Saint Vincent College and a Master of Divinity degree from Saint Vincent Seminary. He earned a diploma in Latin Letters from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; a licentiate in Patristic Theology and Sciences from the Patristic Institute at the Augustinianum, Rome; studied at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute, Rome; and earned a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm, Rome.
