Born Robert Joyce on January 26, 1885 in Emmetsburg, Iowa. He was the son of Matthew Joyce and Helen Healy. Robert went to the Passionist Preparatory School at Dunkirk, New York and then proceeded on to the novitiate at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received the habit on February 16, 1902. On February 17, 1903 he professed his vows and was known as Cuthbert Joyce.
As he began studies, he was plagued by illness. In order to regain his health, the provincial allowed him to visit relatives in North Dakota. In the fall of 1908 he returned to Holy Cross Monastery, Cincinnati, Ohio to commence studies. Still, health problems continued. Physicians and devotion to the novena could not assist him. Still he remained cheerful.
In February 1912 Confrater Gabriel Joyce received Tonsure and Minor Orders. But in the summer tuberculosis began to overtake his body. The Passionist superiors contemplated sending him to Colorado for the better weather. However, his mother sought to care for him. Thus, in November 1912 he was sent to North Dakota to be with his mother. He spent the winter in Edgeley, North Dakota. In April 1913 he went to his sister’s ranch where a shack had been built for him. It was not long before his body was racked with chills and other ailments from the consumption. On September 19, 1913 a change for the worse occurred. He received the last sacraments. He died at midnight, Friday, September 19, 1913. He was buried at Fort Dodge, Iowa.