Like honey in a comb

Venerable John Climacus ~ The Ladder of Divine Ascent
Step 7 ~ On Joy-making Mourning

¶49. When I consider the actual nature of compunction, I am amazed at how that which is called mourning and grief should contain joy and gladness interwoven with it, like honey in a comb. What then are we to learn from this? That such compunction is, in a special sense, a gift of the Lord. There is, then, in the soul no pleasureless pleasure, for God consoles those who are contrite in heart in a secret way.