gift of tears

St. John of the Ladder

“He was born about 579 and came to the monastery at Mount Sinai when he was sixteen, learning from his spiritual father Martyrius who tonsured him a monk at about age twenty. Martyrius died soon after and John retired to Tholas, five miles from the monastery, to live as a hermit. He lived in prudent moderation, eating everything allowed in small amounts. He slept very little and received the grace of continual prayer and the gift of tears.” [source]

Renewing Baptism, praying for the Gift of Tears

“..give thanks to Him, especially those who have received from Him the power to renew their holy baptism through repentance, because without repentance no one can be saved.” – St Peter of Damaskos

Prayer

“First pray for the gift of tears, so that through sorrowing you may tame what is savage in your soul. And having confessed transgressions to the Lord, you will obtain forgiveness from Him.” – St. Evagrios the Solitary

St. Symeon: The Gift of Tears

“No one will ever prove from the divine Scriptures that any person was ever cleansed without tears and constant compunction. No one ever became holy  or recieved the Holy Spirit, or had the vision of God experienced His dwelling within himself, or ever had Him dwelling in his heart, without previous repentance and compunction and constant tears ever flowing as from a fountain. Such tears flood and wash out the house of the soul: they moisten and refresh the soul that has been possesed and inflamed by the unapproachable fire.” – St. Symeon the New Theologian

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