Mar Saba Monastery
Spiritual-teaching.org
"O Thou who hears the cries of the world, come to us!"
"Pray, Hope
and don't Worry!"
Saint Padre Pio
Chapters on Prayer
Prayer is the offshoot of meekness and the absence of anger.
Prayer is the fruit of joy and gratitude.
Prayer is the defense against sadness and discouragement.
Those who accumulate pains and grudges in their heart and then imagine that they pray,
are like people who pour water into a cracked vase.
If you think you can heal someone else, be careful not to become incurable yourself
and so give a death blow to your prayer.
If you refrain from anger, you will find mercy.
So, be careful not to become presumptuous, and you will be among those who pray.
What is good but God alone (cf. Mark 10:18)?
Therefore let us entrust ourselves to Him in all that concerns us, and all will be well for us.
The One who is good is always and the giver of good things (cf. Jas 1:17).
When you find more joy in fulfilling your service of prayer than anything else,
then you will truly have found prayer.
Prayer without distraction is the mind's supreme state.
Prayer is the ascent of the mind to God.*
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*(Evagrius Ponticus, Chapters on Prayer, 2012, Sr. Dominique Pascale-Nau, Rome)
