And old man was asked by a certain soldier if God received a penitent man.  And after heartening him with many words, he said to him at the last,  “Tell me, beloved, if your cloak were torn, would you throw it away?”  He said, “No, but I would patch it and wear it.”  The old man said to him, “If you would spare your garment, shall not God have mercy on His own image?”

[Apophthegmata Patrum]