And when the icon of the Most Holy Virgin watered itself with tears, what sign was seen in this? Nothing else but a sign of Her love for us. And that those tears serve as a clear manifestation of love — behold, I will immediately reveal the truth to you.

Jesus wept over Lazarus, the Jews saw His tears, and what did they say? It is narrated about His love for Lazarus: "Jesus shed tears, then the Jews said, 'See how He loved him' (John 11:36). Likewise, Job's friends, seeing their beloved friend in scabs from head to foot, "lifted up their voices and wept" (Job 2:12).

Hence also know the cause of the tears of the Most-Pure Virgin: she weeps over us, for she loves us, and seeing us rotten with the scabs of iniquity, and lying in the tomb of evil custom, and completely dead in soul, she sympathizes with us and has compassion for us, shedding tears, like Jesus over Lazarus and like the three friends over Job.

For truly, by evil deeds we are like the rotting Job and the dead Lazarus: Job was in the pus, Lazarus was lying in the tomb, but we are in sins! Each of us cries out in need: "I am all possessed by immeasurable passions, and I lie down on a bed of evil!" We lie down and do not get up, as St. David said of us: "All those who do iniquity have fallen, they have been cast out, and cannot rise" (Psalm 35:13). And we do not even care about our rising, according to what is written: "When the wicked fall into the depths of evil, he is not careful" (Proverbs 18:3).

Job was barely alive, and Lazarus was already dead. And we, when we sin because of our weakness, but wish to repent, are then still barely alive, barely feeling ourselves. When we come to the sinful custom, then we are already dead in soul, because we cannot be alive without the grace of God, taken away from the soul because of sin.

As the life of the body is the soul, so the life of the soul is God, and as the body without the soul is dead, so the soul is without God. That is why Blessed Augustine said: "Many have dead souls in a living body." And St. Theophylact with the most holy Chrysostom speaks of the rich man thus: "His soul is buried in him while he is still alive, and bears flesh like a grave."

And it is not surprising that the Virgin weeps over us, as if we were barely alive or even dead. The Mother of Life does not want to see us dead, but alive. "I," he says, "do not desire the death of the sinner, but that the sinner should turn from his way and live" (Ezekiel 33:11).

And the widow in the city called Nain wept over her dead son, and her tears were not in vain: when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her.

Mary's warm tears are not shed in vain, for the sake of Her tears the Lord has mercy on the Christian people, forsakes the iniquities of His people, covers all their sins, tames all His wrath, returns from the wrath of His wrath, resurrects us, who are already dead, with the alms of His grace and gives us to His Mother for protection.

Oh, the power of Mary's tears!

Moral

The image of the Most-Pure Virgin weeps – why? So that you, man, the image of God, get used not to laughing. Woe to those who laugh! This world is a vale of weeping, how can one laugh in it? "Let your laughter turn into weeping, and your joy into sorrow..." (James 4:9).

Weep here, and there you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.