Chapter 110

Read Less From Prayer Books

God bless your solitude. That you do not attend church, do not worry. For God every prayer from the heart is equally valuable, wherever it is offered. Here only habit makes the difference. And one can become accustomed to prayer apart from the church. Read less from prayer books. Pray more in your own way. And with a simple “Lord, have mercy” you can manage. Transform the services into bows and satisfy yourself by means of them. This is how all the desert dwellers and solitaries did it. And this is much better than reading. You cannot refrain completely from reading. But something — from memory, without a book.

(Letter 417. Vol. 3, p. 61)