Praying without distraction…
Blessed is the mind which, praying without distraction, acquires ever greater longing for God.
–Saint Nilus of Sinai (d. 430)
Come to prayer…
Come to prayer, and bring your whole self with you. Do not let your mind remain in the market with your business. … Bring it back, so that it may come in and ask for its life. Do not stand half in and half out, or your prayer may get lost between the two parts. Stand at prayer united and complete, a true human, and then you can receive whatever you ask from God.
–Jacob of Serugh (c. 451-521)
If the mind is distracted…
If, at the time when the mind is praying it is distracted by any extraneous thought or worry about anything, then this prayer is not called pure.
–Saint Isaac of Syria (Seventh Century)
The devil dreads…
The devil dreads fasting, prayer, humility, and good works: he is not able even to stop my mouth who speak against him. The illusions of the devil soon vanish, especially if a man arms himself with the Sign of the Cross. The devils tremble at the Sign of the Cross of our Lord, by which He triumphed over and disarmed them.
–Saint Anthony of Egypt (c. 251-356)
The devil strains…
The devil strains every nerve to secure the souls which belong to Christ. We should not grudge our toil in wresting them from Satan and giving them back to God.
–Saint Sebastian (third century)
Goodness of God…
Enrich your soul in the great goodness of God: The Father is your table, the Son is your food, and the Holy Spirit waits on you and then makes His dwelling in you.
— Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
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