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We see in the world that people cry. They are born crying, live crying, die crying. People cry because they live in the world - a place of crying, a deplorable vale. There are many reasons why people cry. And everyone who cries has their own reason for crying. Cry too, Christian! Since you also live in a deplorable vale, you also have many reasons why you should cry. Cry before time runs out, while tears are useful. Cry - but you won’t cry forever. Cry and you will be consoled. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). People cry because they are unhappy. Weep also, Christian, that you are a sinner, that you have sinned against your Lord, for sin is a great misfortune. People cry because they do not have physical health. You also cry because you have no mental health. People cry because they are sick and sick. You also cry because your soul is sick, sick and weak. A serious illness - pride, envy, anger, uncleanness, voluptuousness, love of fame, love of money. And there are as many tormenting diseases as there are passions and lusts. “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed” (Jer. 17:14), for You are God, my Savior. People cry because they have lost their wealth. Weep also, Christian, that you have lost the wealth that was given to you by your Heavenly Father in holy Baptism. People cry because they are in poverty and poverty. Weep also, you who are poor and wretched, poor and wretched. Unbearable poverty is a sin. “Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear me, for I am poor and needy” (Ps. 85:1). People are crying because they have no food or drink. You too cry because your soul is melting away with hunger and is deprived of hearing the word of God. A great and very severe hunger is not hearing God’s word. People cry because they are naked and have nothing to cover their nakedness with. Weep also, because your soul is hungry - sin has exposed it. Physical nakedness is shameful, but spiritual nakedness is more shameful. People see bodily nakedness, but God and His holy Angels see spiritual nakedness. “Blessed is he who watches and keeps his clothes, lest he walk naked, and lest they see his shame” (Rev. 16:15). He who does not watch and does not keep his clothes is wretched and poor, for he walks naked and they see his shame! “Give me a robe of light; be clothed with light, as with a robe, O most merciful Christ my God” (Ps. 103:2). People cry as they fall and are broken. You too, Christian, cry because you fall into sin and your soul is broken and exhausted. A heavy and cruel fall is a sin. It is better to fall low with body than with soul, and with feet than with sin. “If anyone thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). People cry for their dead parents, brothers, relatives and friends. You too, Christian, weep for your dead soul, like Martha and Mary for Lazarus (John 11:31–33). May Heavenly Father say about you: “This son of mine was dead and is alive, he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:24). O Jesus, Resurrector of the dead! Resurrect my soul, deadened by sins, just as you resurrected the widow’s dead son (Luke 7:12–15)! People cry because they suffer insult and violence from their enemies. You too, Christian, cry before God for your spiritual enemies who are trying to take away your eternal salvation. These enemies are the devil and his evil angels. “Judge, O Lord, those who offend me, overcome those who fight with me. Take your weapon and shield and rise to my aid. Draw your sword and become a barrier against my persecutors; say to my soul: “I am your Salvation!” 5 (Ps.34:1-3). People who are called and led to the trial cry, fearing that they will be disgraced at the trial and be condemned, and that they will not be punished. Weep also, Christian, for you too will be called to judgment, not human, but God’s, at which the Judge does not require witnesses, but He Himself knows all our deeds, words and thoughts. Cry now until you're called. Cry and you will appease the Judge with your tears. Cry, lest you be condemned, and lest you be cast into utter darkness. “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). “Lord, do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for no one living will be justified before You” (Ps. 142:2). People cry because they have many debts, and, not having anything to pay, they are afraid that they will be thrown into prison. Weep and you, Christian, because you are a great debtor to the Heavenly King for your sins, and truly have nothing with which to pay. Weep and Appease Him with your tears, so that your debt may be forgiven you, and you will not be thrown into eternal prison. “Father... forgive us our debts!” (Matthew 6:9–12) The people in prison are crying because they do not see the light. You too, Christian, cry because your soul is enveloped in the darkness of passions and does not see the light of the Divine. “Bring my soul out of prison, O Lord, to confess to Your name” (Ps. 142:8). People are crying, bound in bonds and shackles, because they have no freedom. You too, Christian, cry because your soul is bound by sins, like bonds, and does not have its freedom. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). O Jesus, Redeemer of our captive souls! Tear apart our bonds, so that we may offer a sacrifice of praise to You. People cry because they endure beatings and wounds. You too, Christian, cry, because your evil conscience hurts and torments your soul more than any tormentor. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse away my iniquity” (Ps. 50:3). People living on foreign land cry because they do not see their home and dear Fatherland. This is how the Jews cried when they were in captivity in Babylon, as they themselves confess: “On the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept when we remembered Zion” (Ps. 137:1). Weep also, Christian, that you live in this world as if on a foreign land and do not see the heavenly and beautiful Fatherland - the heavenly Jerusalem. “Woe is me that my life of exile continued” (Ps. 119:5). Cry too, my soul, and may you be comforted both here and there. “Who will give my head water and my eyes a fountain of tears, and weep day and night?” (Jer.9:1) “Hear, O Lord, my prayer and inspire my supplication, do not silence my tears; for I am your sojourner and a stranger, like all my fathers. Weaken me, let me rest; first I will not even leave, nor will I be with anyone” (Ps. 39:13–14). “Come, let us worship and fall down before Him, and let us mourn before the Lord who created us, for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand” (Ps. 94:6-7). “Hear us, O God, our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and those who are in the sea far off” (Ps. 64:6). “We have sinned, we have sinned, we have acted untruthfully before You, we have done less, we have done less than observe, as You have commanded us; but do not betray us to the end, God of the fathers!” Translation by P. 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