Wiktionary
n. (context idiomatic English) A symbolic "valley of tears"; meaning the world and the sorrows felt through life. Similar to the Old Testament Psalm 23's reference to the "valley of death", the phrase implies that sadness is part of the physical world (i.e. part of human experience).
Wikipedia
The phrase vale of tears (Latin vallis lacrimarum) 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 Latin Vulgate (4th century) uses the phrase "valle lacrimum" in Psalm 83:7 (the equivalent of Psalm 84:6 in English translations). Wycliffe's Bible (1395) reads "valei of teeris," and the Bishop's Bible (1568) reads "vale of teares." The King James Version (1611), however, reads "valley of Baca," and the Psalter in the Book of Common Prayer (1662) follows the Coverdale Bible (1535) and reads "vale of misery."
The phrase also occurs in the writings of Jerome (c. 347–420) and Boniface (c. 675–754), 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 the English translation of the German Lutheran hymn known as "Be still, my soul" (1855).
Vale of Tears is the third novel by Peter T. King, a member of the Republican Party and the U.S. Representative for New York's 2nd congressional district. Published in 2004, it is a thriller about a congressman, Sean Cross (who had first appeared as the protagonist of King's second novel, Deliver Us From Evil), who must thwart a planned “dirty bomb” attack by Qaeda operatives working in Brooklyn and on Long Island.
Some readers of the book noted the similarities and contrasts between King's earlier novels' treatment of Irish-American attitudes toward the Irish Republican Army, and his depiction of Arab-Americans in this one, in light of King's statement that his research for the book had led him to conclude that "85 percent" of American mosques had leaders involved in "terrorist activities". (In this book, King depicts a violent IRA splinter group that joining with Al Qaeda.)
Terry Golway of The New York Observer noted the connection between the novel and King's widely expressed criticisms of Muslims in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Noam Cohen of The New York Times called it a "barely veiled 2004 thriller" with a lead character, Rep. Sean Cross, standing in for the author. In The Nation, Michelle Goldberg called it "an execrable novel" but also "a fascinating book" given King's public positions.
Usage examples of "vale of tears".
Thinking in mythological terms helps to put you in accord with the inevitables of this vale of tears.
She gives you the impression that life to her is indeed a vale of tears, and that a smile, never to speak of a laugh, is a frivolity truly reprehensible.
Then came the other extreme of the Middle Ages, when man built himself a Paradise beyond the highest clouds and turned this world into a vale of tears for high and low, for rich and poor, for the intelligent and the dumb.
He neither saw nor felt the booted foot that connected with his skull, sending him, briefly, out of this vale of tears and into another.
May Almighty God's fiery vengeance come down upon 'ee and spare ye a long life in this vale of tears.
Soft shadows fell across the recumbent woman, like the enfolding wings of angels who had come to carry her away from this vale of tears and into a higher land of eternal peace.
He looked at something in his hand, drifted to the spot where Chain had made his exit from this vale of tears.
Since this passing vale of tears was far less important than an eternal afterlife, this was proper, just as building tombs and temples of stone fitted their enduring importance.