"During prayer it is absolutely necessary that your heart should sincerely desire that which you ask for : that you should feel deeply and truly what you are saying. Pray slowly till an echo comes back into your heart from every word of your prayers. Yes. It is an absolute rule. Pray slowly, and with power on every word. Pronounce each successive word from the heart. Keep to the rule that it is better to say five words from the bottom of your heart, than ten thousand words from your tongue only. When your heart is cold, stop praying, and warm your heart by vividly representing to yourself your misery and your blindness and your deadness ; and then go on to pray slowly and fervently."
- Saint John of Kronstadt
Reference: Whyte, Alexander. Father John of the Greek Church: an Appreciation. London: Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier, 1898. 62-63.
