I will give here three very simple instructions:
1. always begin praying with at least a little preparation;
2. do not pray carelessly, but with attention and feeling; and
3. do not go on to ordinary work immediately after prayer.
–Saint Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894)
However, one does not have to do many prayers. It is better to perform a small number of prayers properly than to hurry through a large number of prayers, because it is difficult to maintain the heat of prayerful zeal when they are performed to excess.
–Saint Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894)
What must come first in all prayers, however varied they may be, and what gives them real value is the love with which they are made.
–Blessed Charles De Foucauld (1858-1916)
Every true prayer is a prayer of the Church; by means of that prayer the Church prays, since it is the Holy Spirit living in the Church, Who in every single soul “prays in us with unspeakable groanings.”
–Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891-1942)
A single act of love makes the soul return to life.
–Saint Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941)
Prayer is the sum of our relationship with God. We are what we pray. The degree of our faith is the degree of our prayer. The strength of our hope is the strength of our prayer. The warmth of our charity is the warmth of our prayer. No more, no less.
–Carlo Carretto (1910-1988)
