One of the messages of Little Brother Marcel Văn CSsR is that of changing sadness into joy. Little Văn was told to change sadness into joy; it was a mission and an understanding of his:

I used to think, that to be holy, to seek perfection meant a life full of charm, like a wonderful springtime… I thought that holiness was perpetual joy without the shadow of sadness. But with time, the more I advance the more I see that sanctity is a life in which it is necessary to change sadness into joy.

It seems to me, from reflection, that this process of changing sadness into joy is the same thing as the dark night of the soul: first the sadness of the body, then the sadness of the deeper spiritual roots of the human person, taken out of their native and acquired alienation from God, alienated from themselves instead, and placed in the peace of Christ which, despite the suffering and sadness that abound, prevails and conquers all in joy.

But what joy? or which joy? or, perhaps, whose joy?

I suppose the answer to this is implicit and obvious enough for Little Văn: the joy of Christ. But in what sense is it true? John of Ávila has good answer for this. In a letter, John of Ávila writes,

Although I have many sorrows, I find in Christ’s sufferings more than a sufficient solace; they are such a source of joy that the grief caused by my own defects is dispelled.

It is conformity with the one who always retained the Beatific Vision in the higher regions of himself while undergoing physical and, even more, spiritual agony in this life: the joy of Christ crucified; the joy, however submerged and unapparent, of doing the Father’s will, even unto annihilation; suffering, not abolished, but changed into joy.

Some related posts:

• Another Name for the “Dark Night of the Soul”
• Changing Sadness into Joy