There are many cases of chain-smokers who quit their
habit thanks to the Elder. His words weren’t simple suggestions―they were
powerful. What he said inspired a feeling of repulsion toward cigarettes and
eliminated the desire to smoke. However, he helped more with his prayer than
with his words.
A monk gave the following anonymous account: “I had
come in order to become a monk. I didn’t wear the novice’s monastic cap because
I still couldn’t quit smoking. At the time, I was smoking two packs a day. I
was trying. I would tear them up, throw them away, and then the next day I
would go find them and smoke. Even though I was embarrassed, I went and told
the Elder. He told me, ‘You’ll get up, don’t worry,’ and he punched me on the
shoulder encouragingly.
“It was ten in the morning, and I didn’t think about
cigarettes at all until that evening. From then on, by his prayers I never
smoked again, and I became a monk. For me, it was a miracle.”
Another pilgrim relates: “We visited the Elder, and I
took out my cigarettes to have a smoke where we were sitting. I lit the
cigarette unconsciously―I was smoking three packs a day at the time. The Elder
took it from my mouth and said to me, ‘You’re not going to smoke again until
the Germans invent a machine that cleans out lungs.’ Back at the monastery
where we were staying, I realized that I hadn’t smoked for three hours, and
that I didn’t even want to anymore. I stopped completely.”
Source: http://www.orthodoxpath.org/saints-and-elders-counsels/elder-paisios-smokers-quit/
CONVERSATION