Chapter 197

On External Methods of Prayer

Who came up with this—holding attention on your lips or the tip of your tongue?! That’s a bad idea; drop it. Your effort should be to keep attention in the heart, and nowhere else.

That your mind flees from the heart after a few prayers and lapses from the remembrance of God—this comes from weak attention and from indifference to prayer. The soul does not treasure prayer and hurries to get through it carelessly, muttering it anyhow. Seek the fear of God and with it approach prayer, praying while keeping your attention on the meaning of the words. Short little prayers and the Jesus Prayer are then used to implant in the heart a feeling toward God and thus to bind attention to him. But if we are negligent toward prayer, we shall never advance in it. Remember also that prayer alone is never perfect, but exists together with all the virtues. As the virtues are perfected, so prayer is perfected. The chief ones are these: fear of God, chastity, humility, contrition, mortification of the flesh, patience, love. When these are present, all the others appear, and with them prayer.

(Letter 898. Vol. 5, p. 168)