Showed grief at serene abbot's ruin (4,4,6)
I believe the answer is:
beat ones breast
'showed grief' is the definition.
'at serene abbot's ruin' is the wordplay.
'ruin' is an anagram indicator.
'at'+'serene'+'abbots'='atsereneabbots'
'atsereneabbots' with letters rearranged gives 'BEAT ONES BREAST'.
(Another definition for beat ones breast that I've seen is " show remorse".)
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