Tears Here and There

Ἔλεγον δὲ ὅτι ὅλον τὸν χρόνον τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ, καθεζόμενος εἰς τὸ ἐργόχειρον αὐτοῦ, ῥάκκος εἶχεν ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ, χάριν τῶν δακρύων τῶν πιπτόντων ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ. Ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ ἀββᾶς Ποιμὴν ὅτι ἐκοιμήθη, δακρύσας εἶπε· Μακαριος εἶ, ἀββᾶ Ἀρσένιε, ὅτι ἔκλαυσας ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸν ὦδε, Ὁ γάρ μὴ κλαίων ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸν ὧδε, αἰωνιως ἐκεὶ κλαύσεται. Εἴτε οὖν ὥδε ἑκὼν, εἴτε ἐκεῖ ἀπὸ βασάνων, ἀδύνατον μὴ κλαῦσαι.   ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

And they said of Father Arsenius that the whole of his life when he sat to work with his hands he had a rag in his lap for the sake of the tears that fell from his eyes. Hearing he had passed away, Father Poimen said weeping, ' Blessed are you, Father Arsenius, that you lamented here, for he who does not weep here shall lament in eternity. He who does not weep readily here, there, on account of the torments, shall not be able to refrain from lamenting.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia