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VERONA, Kentucky (LifeSiteNews) — Happiness and holiness go hand in hand. That is the most important lesson a Catholic can learn, and it should be the mission in every Catholic school. Fresh on the scene of Catholic education, St. Andrew’s Academy in rural Kentucky has a happy story to tell.

Two years ago, I had the privilege of leading a group of men who set out on an adventure to found a school where boys would be formed into clear-thinking, responsible, and joyful Catholic men. We shared a unique vision for education that extended beyond the classroom and included farming, traditional trades, music and poetry, deep friendship, and wholesome recreation. Having received such an education ourselves, we were determined to establish a school that boys would enjoy – to found a school of joy.

Growing in holiness can be defined as increasing our capacity for joy. In a very real sense, therefore, the entire mission of the school could be summarized as an effort to increase a young man’s capacity for joy. To relish and rejoice in all that is good, true and beautiful – to be truly happy. As Saint Augustine writes, “The happy life is this – to rejoice to You, in You, and for You. That is it, and there is no other.”

God indicated the place where this vision would become a reality in a way that only He can – with a bolt of lightning. A beautiful building on a large property in Verona, Kentucky, had caught fire during a thunderstorm, partially burnt, and stood vacant for a number of years. This building was restored, and the new owner made a generous gift of the property to Saint Andrew’s Academy.

But that bolt wasn’t the only Providential occurrence. The property was gifted on the feast of Saint Andrew. On the feast of St. Benedict, the patron of Western Civilization (as well as of students and farmers), a chaplain was found to join the faculty. The first large financial gift was received on the feast of the patron of Catholic schools, St. Thomas Aquinas. My family and I moved to Kentucky on the feast of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, the patron saint of teachers. We received the permits to operate at our location on the feast of St. Julian, the patron of hospitality. Perhaps most remarkably, our first student, a Protestant, was received into the Church this last January on the feast of St. John Bosco, the patron of youth.

God has blessed our work, and it was encouraging and beautiful to experience first-hand the great doctrine of the Communion of Saints – the reality that the saints truly assist and guide us as we joyfully battle toward eternity.

That concept of battle joy is essential to our vision. There is a great story that tells of the young Captain Don Juan dancing a galliard on the bow of his ship as it charged to collide with the enemy flagship of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 – a battle whose miraculous outcome unquestionably saved Christendom. And it all began with a joyful dance.

A man dances when he is joyful, and there is no doubt that Don Juan was swept away by a holy joy – by an exhilarating realization that he was chosen by God to participate in a glorious moment in the history of Christendom. For a moment, he caught a glimpse, and became conscious of his role in the great drama of the Divine. As Chesterton says in his poem Lepanto, he laughed in the Sultan’s “brave beard curled.” In the face of the enormous odds stacked against him in the undefeated armada of the Sultan, Don Juan realized that, should victory indeed be won, it could only be attributed to God through the intercession of the Queen of Heaven – and he became as a child eager to play a great game.

This image of Don Juan dancing reminds me of a passage from the book The Courage to Be Afraid by Marie-Dominique Molinié, “it was a total reconciliation of crazy, overflowing generosity and the purest carefreeness of youth.” This joy in the face of adversity was a sentiment shared by St. Joseph Cupertino, who described “all the troubles of this world as nothing but the play battles children have with popguns.”

The youthful Don Juan is an example to the young men of Saint Andrew’s – that “last knight of Europe” taking “weapons from the wall… The last and lingering troubadour.” He recognized that he had a great part to play in the fray and that there were souls depending on his valor. He responded as a man ought, and joyfully engaged in the battle before him.

As Scripture reminds us, “the joy of the Lord is our strength” – whether at Lepanto, in the Christian life, or here at Saint Andrew’s.

As we sail into year three, we face both the joy of growth and the urgent need for expansion. In just two years, our school has more than doubled in size and is outgrowing its current buildings. We have launched our Season of Growth Campaign to support our exciting apostolate and invite faithful Catholics across the country to join us in our battle to reclaim joyful Catholic education. Montjoie!

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