“Have the most lively Spiritual union with the Heavenly inhabitants, with all the Saints and Martyrs, as they are all members of one single body, The Church of Christ, to which we sinners also belong, and the living Head of which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Prayer is prosphora mixed from tears and the heart.”
Saint Justin Popovich of Serbia
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“No Prayer, my children, gets lost.”
Saint Iakovos Tsalikis of Evia
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“Prayer is a refuge for those who are shaken, an anchor for those tossed by waves, a walking stick for the infirm, a treasure house for the poor, a stronghold for the rich, a destroyer of sicknesses, a preserver of health. Prayer keeps our virtues intact and quickly removes all evil.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“Though the Christian may Pray alone, he has the Choir of the Saints standing with him.”
Saint Clement of Alexandria
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“Prayer is called a virtue, but in reality it is the mother of the virtues: for it gives birth to them through union with Christ.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Virtues are formed by Prayer. Prayer preserves temperance. Prayer suppresses anger. Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy. Prayer draws into the Soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven.”
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
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“Pray persistently about everything, and then you will never do anything without God’s help.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Through your Prayer, you can Sanctify your self as well as your work.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Do not leave Prayers. Be afraid of negligence and indifference. When you Pray in the morning and feel affection, you will fly all day, like on wings. And when you start the morning without Prayer, everything will go wrong with you.”
Saint Ieronymos of Aegina
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“There is nothing more powerful than a person Praying well.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“If I read a hundred Prayers in the silence of Athos a day, and you, in the noise of the City, with work and family responsibilities, read three Prayers, then we are in the same position.”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
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“The bodily eye cannot tolerate even the smallest speck of dust on its surface, so too the conscience, when soiled by something, cannot attain Prayer.”
Saint Moses of Optina
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“Of course, every good deed done for Christ’s sake gives us the Grace of the Holy Spirit, but Prayer gives us this Grace most of all, for it is always at hand, as an instrument for acquiring the Grace of the Spirit. For instance, you would like to go to Church, but there is no Church or the Service is over; you would like to give alms to a beggar, but there isn’t one, or you have nothing to give; you would like to preserve your virginity, but you have not the strength to do so because of your temperament, or because of the violence of the wiles of the enemy which because of your human weakness you cannot withstand; you would like to do some other good deed for Christ’s sake, but either you have not the strength or the opportunity is lacking. This certainly does not apply to Prayer. Prayer is always possible for everyone, rich and poor, noble and humble, strong and weak, healthy and sick, righteous and sinful.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“As often as I have Prayed with faith, God has always heard me and fulfilled my Prayers.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“To acquire Prayer is to acquire Eternity.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“There is nothing more beautiful or sweeter than to love the Lord Jesus.”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“Prayer is Spiritual breathing; when we Pray we breathe in the Holy Spirit. Thus, all Church Prayers are the breathing of the Holy Spirit; as it were Spiritual air and also light, Spiritual fire, Spiritual food and Spiritual garments.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Whoever loves the Lord remembers Him always, and this memory of the Lord gives birth to Prayer… For it is through Prayer that we feel the Grace of the Holy Spirit.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“Prayer is the mirror of the Soul. As a man sees what his form looks like in the mirror, so with Prayer, when it is warm and sincere, the inner man is revealed. Prayer will show you who you are.”
Saint Anthimos of Chios
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“Prayer brings the Lord to us.”
Saint Methodia of Kimolos
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“Prayer is food for the Soul. Do not starve the Soul, it is better to let the body go hungry.”
Saint Joseph of Optina
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“The most important thing in the Spiritual life is to strive to receive the Grace of the Holy Spirit. It changes our lives (above all inwardly, not outwardly). We will live in the same house, in the same circumstances, and with the same people, but our life will already be different. But this is possible only under certain conditions: if we find the time to Pray fervently, with tears in our eyes. From the morning to ask for God’s Blessing, that a Prayerful attitude may define our entire day.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“To acquire Prayer is to acquire eternity.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“There is no other virtue that is either higher or more necessary than sacred Prayer, because all the other virtues – I mean fasting, vigils, sleeping on the ground, ascesis, chastity, almsgiving, and all the rest – even though they are ways of imitating God, even though they cannot be taken away from us and constitute the immortal ornaments of the Soul – do not unite man with God, but only render man fit to be united. Sacred Prayer, and it alone, unites. It alone joins man with God and God with man, and makes the two one spirit.”
Saint Nikodemos of Mount Athos
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“A wise custom of the ancient Holy Fathers: when greeting each other, they didn’t ask about health or anything else, but rather about Prayer, saying ‘How is your Prayer?’ Prayer was considered by them to a be a sign of the spiritual life, and they called it the breath of the spirit. If the body has breath, it lives; if breathing stops, life comes to an end. So it is with the spirit. If there is Prayer, the Soul lives; without Prayer, there is no Spiritual life.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“Spiritual Prayer turns into ecstasy, in which are revealed the Mysteries of the Holy Trinity, and the intellect enters that sphere of Holy unknowing that is greater than knowledge.”
Saint Justin Popovich of Serbia
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“Why should we Pray,” grumble my neighbours, “when God knows what we need beforehand?” But I sadly answer them: “That is true, God knows that you need nothing except Him alone. At the door of your Soul He is waiting to come in. Through Prayer the doors are opened for the entrance of the Majestic King. Does not one of you say to the other at your door: ‘Please enter’?”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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“It is a fact that the Eternal God listens to us – corruptible as we are – more than we listen to Him.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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“Prayer is incense, that ceaselessly censes my Soul and raises it toward You.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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