Saint Paisios of Mount Athos

 

Saint Paisios of Mount Athos 

 One time, some seniors from the Athonite School asked elder Paisios  what they should watch out for most in their lives.

“Pay attention to the little, everyday things,” he answered.

“You sit there comfortably in your armchair, and you think that it’s not bad or a sin; you say, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ It doesn’t matter if we eat a little more or if we ask for good food. It doesn’t matter if we sleep a little bit more. It doesn’t matter if I was a little short with my parents or someone else. This doesn’t matter, that doesn’t matter…. We justify all these little wrongs. But not paying attention to these small things will lead us to do even bigger wrongs―and then we’ll say, ‘it doesn’t matter’ about them too. We shouldn’t let the body be lazy, because the body affects the spirit. We have to be vigilant.”