On Brief Prayers Instead of Reading From a Prayer Book

You can limit your prayer rule, because of the weakness of your eyesight, to a set time, and an hour, as you do, is enough for it. Instead of reading prayers from prayer books, you can pray with little brief prayers. The matter works like this: choose for yourself several short little prayers, according to your spiritual needs – three, four, or five of them – learn them by heart and repeat them in your rule 5 or 10 times each, the way people do with the Jesus Prayer, trying in every way for both the thoughts and feelings expressed by the prayers to go inseparably with the words of the prayer. Labor at this for an hour, and that is enough. The main thing is that each prayer you speak should come from your heart. For this reason, when learning them you must think deeply about them.

An example of brief prayers can be seen in the 24 little prayers of Saint John Chrysostom, which appear among the prayers before sleep. You can learn them now, think them through and feel them, and use them. It is clear that Chrysostom himself prayed them.

Rework the litany of supplication into brief prayers like this: “The day (or night, evening) being completed, holy, peaceful and sinless, grant to me, O Lord” – and the other 6 prayers.

Take verses from Have mercy on me, O God – up to restore to me the joy of your salvation… (Ps 50). All these verses are deeply penitential.

There you have your rule for now. Later you can gather other prayers more suited to your needs. Remember that people do not pray to God with words, but with mind and heart. Therefore, never pray with words alone.

(Letter 379. Vol. 3, pp. 13–14)