The Apostle of Joy

Extract

Joy', wrote G. K. Chesterton on the last page of Orthodoxy, ‘is the gigantic secret of the Christian'. One of the greatest possessors of this secret was that gentle and genial bishop, St Francis de Sales. ‘God is the God of joy', he wrote; ‘the spirit of joy is the true spirit of devotion'.

The worldly connotation of devotion is a dismal one. The opening chapters of the Introduction to the Devout Life were intended to dispel that erroneous opinion. The way of the soul to God should be one of joy; indeed it can only be one of joy, for sadness and melancholy are diametrically opposed to the happiness that comes from drawing near to God. ‘I cannot conceive', Francis wrote to a saddened soul, ‘how you can let your heart be filled with such deep sorrow, considering you are a child of God, entrusted to his loving kindness, and consecrated to his love'.