tears in spiritual life - Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Athanasius

CHAPTER THREE
TEARS IN THE LIFE OF THE SAINTS
1. Saint Arsenius is one of the saints who became very
famous for his weeping.
It is said that his eyelashes fell due to the intensity of his
weeping, and that two cavities formed on his cheeks because of
his weeping. During summer he would wet the palm leaves with
his tears, and he placed a piece of cloth on his knees for his
tears to fall on.
At the time of his death he wept intensely and his disciples
said to him, “Truly, Father, are you also afraid?” “Indeed,” he
answered them, “the fear which is mine at this hour has been
with me ever since I became a monk.”
If the great Saint Arsenius wept like this, then what
can we say about ourselves?
What can we say about the fear of this hour that
accompanied him? Who did it accompany? It accompanied the
great Arsenius, the model of solitude and silence in “The
Paradise of the Fathers”, whom Pope Theophilus desired to
meet. The saints used to say to him, “Why do you avoid us?”
He replied, “God knows that I love you, but I cannot live with
God and with men”.
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