SO GOOD QUOTES

Prayer is not a mindless recitation of printed symbols, but a devotion of mind and heart.  When we read or hear about the prayer of the mind that enters the heart, we are faced with the rejection of a purely mechanical recitation of words. We would find it unacceptable to offer a mindless recitation of words to our friends and loved ones; how dare we offer it to God day after day?!

…

If prayer is the breath of life, then it is impossible to live just by breathing for a few minutes twice a day.  Apostle Paul instructs us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).  Many have said that this is impossible: how can one do anything without ceasing?  But do we not breathe without ceasing?  The saints who devoted their lives to God found that not only it is possible to pray without ceasing, but that it is unceasing prayer that makes life in God possible.  The more we allow our soul to breathe prayer, the more alive in God it becomes.

—Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov, On the Importance of Prayer