Vale of tears
Vale of tears is a Christian phrase referring to the tribulations of life that Christian doctrine says are left behind only when one leaves the world and enters Heaven. The term valley of tears is also used sometimes.
The phrase appears in some translations of Psalm 84:6, which describes those strengthened by God's blessing: even in the valley of tears they find life-giving water. The Sixto-Clementine version of the Latin Vulgate uses the phrase "valle lacrimarum" in Psalm 83:7. Wycliffe's Bible reads "valei of teeris", and the Bishop's Bible reads "vale of teares". The King James Version, however, reads "valley of Baca", and the Psalter in the Book of Common Prayer follows the Coverdale Bible and reads "vale of misery".
The phrase also occurs in the writings of Jerome and Boniface, but was perhaps popularized by the hymn "Salve Regina", which at the end of the first stanza mentions "gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle", or "mourning and weeping in this valley of tears". The phrase also appears in "Be still, my soul", the English translation of the German Lutheran hymn.
