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

ecause by his sin he has lost his divine image, he has fallen and
been defiled.
He weeps in pain, how can his will have been weakened
as such and his spirit defiled?
He feels ashamed in front of himself and embarrassed also.
As David the prophet said in the psalm, “... the shame of my
face has covered me” (Ps 44:15). Daniel the prophet also said
whilst confessing the sins of the people, “ Lord, to us belongs
shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
because we have sinned against You” (Dan 9:8, 7).
The saints likewise, used to weep for the sins of the
people.
They weep in sadness for those who fall and perish, just as
Samuel mourned for Saul the king (1 Sam 15:35). They wept
whilst asking for forgiveness for the people, requesting grace
for them to repent, as Ezra the priest wept as a result of the
people’s sins and tore his garment and plucked out the hair of
his head (Ezra 9:3). “...Ezra was praying ... confessing,
weeping, and bowing down before the house of God” (Ezra
10:1) He said, “ my God: I am too ashamed and humiliated to
lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen
higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the
heavens” (Ezra 9:6).
The same thing happened to Nehemiah when he confessed
the sins of the people and said, “Both my father's house and I
have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You” (Neh
1:6, 7).
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