gift of tears

[jacqueline]

I read a book today that briefly mentioned something about a monk having the "gift of tears". I am having a hard time finding out more about this. Why are tears considered a gift?

thanks in advance.

[TomS]

I read a book today that briefly mentioned something about a monk having the "gift of tears". I am having a hard time finding out more about this. Why are tears considered a gift?

thanks in advance.

Must have been a book by a Russian!

[joasia]

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Tom,
I can appreciate your tongue-in-cheek comments most of the time, but you really exerted yourself this time. Give the girl a break, will ya?

Jacqueline,

One book or volume of books you can start with is the Philokalia. I think they are up to 4 volumes now(maybe even the 5th...I have to check). They talk about all those spiritual elements that are mostly dealt with in monasteries.

Why are tears a gift? Because our tears are our expression of repentance of our sins. It is considered a gift because, in the world we live in today, mankind is obssessed with himself and there is no desire to look within oneself and count oneself as the least amongst many. It is all about ego. And to be able to shed tears about our spiritual struggles means that we understand that our lives are not governed by this reality, but that we have a greater judgement to face. We shed our tears because we are truely grateful for the sacrifice that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour volunteered for our souls. Our tears are our convictions of repentance and therefore a form of preparing our souls for the true cleansing of Holy Communion.

I think that the Philokalia can explain it better. These are my simple words.