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| St. Paisios the Athonite holding an icon of St. Panteleimon |
- Elder, I'm sick. Say a prayer that I may become well.
- It will not be good for you for me to pray about this matter. If you are patient and have faith in God, then you will get a pension from "healthcare", which is bigger than the Agricultural Insurance Organization!
Once, a sick man entreated Saint Panteleimon to make him well. The Saint, however, did not do it. He insisted and continuously made entreaty. In the end, he cured him.
When he died and went to the other life, he saw that he lost many crowns due to his healing. He then said to Saint Panteleimon:
"Why did you make me well? You knew that I would lose crowns, which is why you should not have cured me."
So, Saint Panteleimon took the hit!
From Μαρτυρίες Προσκυνητών, Γέροντας Παΐσιος ο Αγιορείτης, Τόμος Β’, σελ. 113. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.