Penthos is mourning, a sorrow for one’s own and the world’s sin that softens and cleanses the heart. The desert fathers and John Climacus valued the gift of tears as a sign of grace. It is not despair but a joyful sorrow that opens the heart to mercy.
Penthos
Compunction: the grief for sin and the gift of tears prized by the desert fathers.
Also: compunction, gift of tears