Gratitude, which should be in our hearts and on our lips, is a virtue which excites us to praise God unceasingly for all His benefits… Since God not only gives us life, but continues to preserve it, protecting us, lavishing blessings on us, and causing all creatures to serve our necessities and desires, is it not just that we should continually praise Him?
–Blessed Louis de Granada (1505-1588)
The Lord has given us many counsels and commandments to help us toward salvation. He has even given us a pattern of prayer, instructing us on how we are to pray. He has given us life, and with his accustomed generosity, he has also taught us how to pray. He has made it easy for us to be heard as we pray to the Father in the words taught us by the Son… What prayer could be more a prayer in the spirit than the one given us by Christ, by whom the Holy Spirit was sent upon us? What prayer could be more a prayer in the truth than the one spoken by the lips of the Son, who is truth himself?
–Saint Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258)
By our prayer we share the life of God. True prayer demands that we be more passive than active; it requires more silence than words, more adoration than study, more concentration than rushing about, more faith than reason. The highest state of prayer is to be children in the arms of Love: silent, loving, rejoicing.
–Carlo Coretto (1910-1988)
We should give thanks to Him, as it is said: ‘In everything give thanks.’ (I Th.. 5:18) Closely linked to this phrase is another of St. Paul’s injunctions: ‘Pray without ceasing.’ (I Th. 5:17), that is, be mindful of God at all times, in all places, and in every circumstance. For no matter what you do, you should keep in mind the Creator of all things. When you see the light, do not forget Him who gave it to you; when you see the sky, the earth, the sea and all that is in them, marvel at these things and glorify their Creator; when you put on clothing, acknowledge whose gift it is and praise Him who in His providence has given you life. In short, if everything you do becomes for you an occasion for glorifying God, you will be praying unceasingly. And in this way your soul will always rejoice, as St. Paul commends (cf. I Thess. 5:16).
–Saint Peter of Damascus (d. 750)
The most perfect prayer breathes in a heart that remains silent before God and knows how to listen to God.
–Augustine Ichiro Okumura (1923-2014)
Whether you pray alone or in the company of others, try never to pray simply as a matter of routine but always with conscious awareness of what you are doing.
—Evagrius Ponticus (345-399)
