“Have you sinned? Be in mourning, and you will cause sin to disappear,” for “penthos erases sin.” “Sadness about sin purifies sin.” “If one is saddened after sinning, the sin disappears [and] the wrong is righted.” [St John Chrysostom]…this is the main and true end goal of sadness, and for this reason has God given it to man: “Its power is only for the destruction of sin by erasing it; God created it for no other reason.”
~Dr Jean-Claude Larchet (Therapy of Spiritual Illnesses vol.3, p.63)
Prayerful Life 