“Continuously calling on the name of God is a healing that kills not only passions, but also their very action. Just as a doctor finds a decent cure or a plaster for the wound of a sufferer, and they work, and the patient does not even know how this is done, so the name of God, when invoked, kills all passions, although we do not know how this is done.”
Venerable Barsanuphius the Great and John. Answer 421
“Do not grieve without immediately receiving from God what you ask for. He wants to bring you greater benefit by forcing you to patiently stand before Him in prayer. For what is higher than to extend a conversation to God and be embraced by communion with Him!”
Venerable Nile of Sinai (Philokalia, vol. 2)
“All the warfare between us and unclean spirits is waged not because of anything else but because of spiritual prayer, for it is very antagonistic and unbearable to them, but is saving and favorable to us.”
Venerable Nile of Sinai (Philokalia, vol. 2)
“The fruits of true prayer: holy peace of the soul, combined with quiet, silent joy, alien to daydreaming, conceit and heated impulses and movements; love for neighbors, which does not distinguish between good and evil, worthy and unworthy, but intercedes for everyone before God as for itself, as for its own members. From such love for one’s neighbors, the purest love for God shines forth.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
“Don’t stop kneeling. Kneeling represents a fall into sin, with the implication of confession of sin; rising from the knees signifies repentance, with a hint of a vow of a virtuous life. Perform each genuflection with a mental invocation of Christ, so that, falling to the Lord with soul and body, you may make the God of souls and bodies available to you.”
Theoliptus, Metropolitan of Philadelphia
“Let us not say in our defense that the house of prayer is not near: the grace of the Spirit has made us ourselves churches of God; If only we are vigilant, we can always pray very easily. It is also possible for a wife, sitting at a spinning wheel or engaged in weaving, to gaze at the sky with her mind and fervently call on God; It is also possible for a husband, in the marketplace and on the road, to perform fervent prayers; to another, and sitting in the workshop, while going about your business, you can lift up your soul to the Lord; A servant can perform sincere and earnest prayer while buying at the market, while serving in the house, and while working in the kitchen. God does not disdain place; He requires only one fiery heart and a chaste soul... If you are in the laver, pray; whether you are on the road or on your bed, and wherever you are, pray. You are the church of God, don’t look for a place: you only need a spiritual disposition. Even if you stand before the judge, pray.”
Saint John Chrysostom
“Moments of solitude must be used, turning them exclusively to the work of God - prayer and contemplation of God. These same classes, as long as they go at least somewhat smoothly, do not let you get bored. For they exude spiritual consolation, which nothing on earth can give.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
Venerable Paisiy Velichkovsky