A Penitent Soldier

Ἠρωτήθη ὁ ἀββᾶς Μιὼς ὑπὸ στρατευμένου, εἰ ἄρα δέχεται μετάνοιαν ὁ Θεος. Ὁ δὲ μετὰ τὸ κατηχῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐν πολλοῖς λόγοις, λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· Εἰπε μοι, ἀγαπητέ· ἐὰν σχισθῇ σου τὸ χλανίδεον, βάλλεις τοῦτο ἔξω; Λέγει· Οὖ ἀλλὰ ῥάπτω αὐτὸ, καὶ χρῶμαι αὐτῷ. Λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ γέρων· Εἰ οὖν σὺ τοῦ ἱματίου φείδῇ, ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ ἰδίου πλάσματος οὐ φείσεται; ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Father Mios was asked by a soldier if God received the penitent. After educating him in many words, he said to him, 'Tell me, beloved, if your cloak was torn, would you throw it aside?' He said, ' No, but I would repair it and make use of it.' The elder said to him, ' If then you would care so much for a piece of cloth, will not God care for you?' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia