Just as someone who does not love cannot in any way know what love is (1 Jn 4:8), the same holds true for Christian joy. It is practically impossible to explain what joy consists of to people who have never experienced it: people who, to complicate things even more, usually do not accept that there is any such thing as joy: But the sensual man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to understand them, because they are examined spiritually (1 Cor 2:14).

         And that is not all, far from it, because the problems have just begun. Christian joy, whether one considers its reality or its conceptualization, is not something Jesus Christ’s faithful find easy to grasp.

         First of all there is the fact that Perfect Joy always accompanies true love, as first effect follows its cause. But the only real lovers are those Christians who, as well as firmly believing in the Gospel, make a genuine effort to put it into practice. And given that there do not seem to be too many of such Christians, it would seem that Perfect Joy, in this life, is not something that the immense majority of people find easy to attain. Neither, we may deduce, will the number of those who come to know it be very large.

         Some happy intuitions, now and then, have helped to clarify the meaning of things that the human mind finds difficult to assimilate. This is the case with St. Francis’ famous intuition about the essence of Perfect Joy.

         As is told in the Little Flowers of St. Francis, Perfect Joy, for this saint, could not consist either in the Friars Minor attaining great holiness or managing to work miracles or learning the secret of things past and future; neither could it consist in their speaking with tongues of angels or converting the infidels. Hence his angelic discourse to his traveling companion, Fray Leo, in an enchanting story which the Little Flowers recounts as follows:

         “Imagine,” the Saint said, “that, once we reach St. Mary of the Angels, soaked by the rain and frozen by the cold, all soaked with mud and suffering from hunger, and we ring at the gate of the Place and the brother porter comes and says angrily: ‘Who are you?’ And we say: ‘We are two of your brothers.’ And he contradicts us, saying: ‘You are not telling the truth. Rather you are two rascals who go around deceiving people and stealing what they give to the poor. Go away!’ And he does not open for us, but makes us stand outside in the snow and rain, cold and hungry, until night falls; then if we endure all those insults and cruel rebuffs patiently, without being troubled and without complaining, and if we reflect humbly and charitably that the porter really knows our unworthiness and that God makes him speak thus against us, oh, Brother Leo, write that perfect joy is there! And if we continue to knock and the porter comes out in anger and drives us away with curses and hard blows as if we are bothersome scoundrels, saying: ‘Get away from here, you dirty thieves; go to the hospital! Who do you think you are? You certainly won’t eat or sleep here!’ If we bear it patiently and take the insults with joy and love in our hearts, oh, Brother Leo, write that that is perfect joy! And if later, suffering intensely from hunger and the painful cold, we still knock and call and, crying loudly, beg him to open for us and let us come in for the love of God, and he grows still more angry and says: ‘Those fellows are bold and shameless ruffians. I’ll give them what they deserve!’ And he comes out with a knotty club and, grasping us by the cowl, throws us onto the ground, rolling us in the mud and snow, and beats us with that club so much that he covers our bodies with wounds; if we endure all those evils and insults and blows with joy and patience, reflecting that we must accept and bear the sufferings of the Blessed Christ patiently for love of Him, oh, Brother Leo, write: That is perfect joy!”

         So much for what the Saint has to say. We must admit that this passage bears the touch of a genius: something absolutely marvelous and –apparently—very much in line with what is said in the Acts of the Apostles: So the apostles departed the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).

         So, as Saint Francis sees it, Perfect Joy consists in Christian patience which is able, out of pure love, to share the sufferings of Christ—very pertinent and opportune words which leave no doubt that the Saint understood very well the true meaning of the Gospel.