Română
In Konitsa, there was a drunkard who had a family, and I used to give him something. Some people had learned that I was helping him, because he himself would tell them, and they told me, “Don’t give to him; he drinks.” But he would tell me, “Give me something for my children,” and when giving I would say to him, “Take this for your children.” I knew that he drank, but I also knew that this word would also help a little. He would drink but he would also think of his children a little. If I had not given him anything, he would have tormented his wife and taken the money she earned by working as a cleaning lady to drink and cause even greater suffering to his children. But when I told him, “Take this for your children,” he did remember his children a little. You see? I felt pain for him and his family, and this was obvious to him and was active in his inner being. Many have been helped in this manner. Some, because their conscience troubled them, would send the money back. By reasoning we do not allow Christ to do His work. It is time to learn the true Gospel, to be truly Evangelical persons, not Protestants!
Saint Paisios the Athonite, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 2
