The breaking of the heart

St. Mark the Ascetic Says:

"To brood on evil makes the heart brazen; but to destroy evil through self-restraint and hope breaks the heart.

There is a breaking of the heart which is gentle and makes it deeply penitent, and there is a breaking which is violent and harmful, shattering it completely.

Vigils, prayer and patient acceptance of what comes constitutes a breaking that does not harm but benefits the heart, provided we do not destroy the balance between them through excess. He who perseveres in them will be helped in other ways as well; but he who is slack and negligent will suffer intolerably on leaving this life."