What is meant in this precept by ‘mourning?’
Sorrow and contrition of heart, with unfeigned tears, that we serve the Lord so imperfectly and unworthily, and rather deserve his displeasure by our sins: “godly sorrow works repentance that leads to salvation; it does not bring regret. On the other hand, the sorrow of the world is deadly” (2Co 7:10; see Q353, Q486).
St John Chrysostom observes the purifying power of such grief:
Those who grieve for someone, a child, a wife, or any other lost relation, have no fondness for gain or pleasure during the time of their sorrow; they do not aim at glory; they are not provoked by insults, nor led captive by envy, nor beset by any other passion: their grief alone occupies the whole of their soul. (St John Chrysostom)
How much more does mourning for our sins gather the whole soul to God.
