Joy

Spiritual joy, often called joy in God, is an effect of charity.

Spiritual joy admits no admixture of sorrow, for it is joy in the divine wisdom of which Scripture says (Wisd. 8:16),“Her conversation hath no bitterness.”

Spiritual joy is full and perfect when God is possessed by the soul, and nothing remains to be desired. It is manifest,therefore, that we cannot achieve the fullness of spiritual joy until we reach heaven.

Joy is not a virtue in itself; it is an act and an effect of the virtue of charity, and it is numbered among the fruits of the Holy Ghost.