During a season known for solemnity and sacrifice, the Rule of St. Benedict continues to point the faithful toward true Christian joy found through personal renewal in Christ during Lent. 

It’s a reminder being given by Fr. Donald Raila O.S.B. during a day of recollection titled Joy in Lent on April 5 where, at Toronto's Holy Rosary Parish, he hopes to share how timeless precepts for Benedictine monks can be applied to the Lenten season in today’s world. 

“The two uses of the word joy in the rule of St. Benedict both occur in the chapter on Lent and it talks about how Christian joy is very different from happiness, something more of an emotion, rather than a response to something that is good or bad, which is not often under our control,” Raila said. 

“Joy is something deeper and as St. Paul says, it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and that we should rejoice always, even amidst suffering. Doing penance and making sacrifices should be a source of joy because it opens us to a deep relationship with Christ who is our ultimate source (of joy).” 

A priest and monk of the Order of St. Benedict himself, the rule is nothing new to Raila. He recalls fellow monk Fr. Kurt Belsole providing a dissertation on Joy in Lent back in 1994. 

Having been personally moved by the topic, Raila began crafting his own reflections which would eventually grow into a book after close to three decades of research and contemplation. 

The upcoming day of recollection, which includes Holy Mass, meditations and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, will act as a proverbial crash course of the relation between Christian joy during the Lenten season. 

“Pope St. Leo the Great has said that a Christian’s life should be continuous, that  while Lent is a time when we specifically emphasize the need for conversion and repentance, we also recognize the love of Jesus.  St. Benedict, borrowing from St. Leo, says that a monk who lives the Christian life should be living in joy,” he said. 

It is not necessarily an overflowing happiness, but a deep joy where an overflow in the spirit of gratitude is possible. With joy in Christ, the faithful are able to show that joy to others through generous love and a spirit of thanksgiving to God for what He has done through the Passion and death of Christ.

Raila points to the 49th chapter of the Rule of St. Benedict, specifically the following: “Let him deny himself in the matter of food, of sleep, of talking, of mirth; and let him look forward to holy Easter with the joy of spiritual longing,” as a precursor to the joy that individuals can harness from a renewed relationship with Christ during the Lenten season. 

“ It is these sacrifices made during Lent that act as a practice for dealing with the sufferings of every day life. We deal with the sufferings of every day life within the context of remembering that we're not meant for this world only, although we have to live in this world. So, when we obey God's law and learn how to love Christ first of all, we then can have a spirit of joy and that is something we can never lose,” he said. 

Above all else, the upcoming day of recollection is promised to challenge the notion of Lent simply being a time of penance. Rather, it's a season where God’s people are called to find deep, everlasting delight through Christ’s Passion. 

“It is a matter of deepening one's love for Christ during Lent and in every day life by learning how to carry on a spirit of joy, hope and ongoing conversion. We must be willing to allow God to give us whatever He wants and be able to receive it with gratitude and joy,” Raila said. 

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