The Elder advised one visitor to go to confession. He objected:
— Gheronta, what sense is there in confessing, and then sinning again?
Then the Elder explained him:
— Look, during war, when someone is wounded, say, with a bullet in his leg, should he not first of all see the doctor to get his wound dressed? If he says: "Why should I get the wound dressed, if I shall be wounded again anyway?" Then he will die prematurely from bleeding or blood poisoning, which he could have avoided. The same thing happens with sins. That is why you go and confess, and if you fall again, confess again. And let it be so until you stop falling.
St. Paisios
