"But when I have not repeated the prayers I am wont to say, I feel as though I had not prayed at all.

I know that this is absurd; still, there is no faithful soul who does not know the feeling when the text of his prayers is altered." The Abbe smiled.
"The best prayers," said he, "are those of the Liturgy, those which God Himself has taught us, those alone which are expressed in language worthy of Him--in His own language.

They are complete, and supreme; for all our desires, all our regrets, all our wailing are contained in the Psalms.

The prophet foresaw and said everything; leave him, then, to speak for you, and thus, as your interpreter before God, give you his help.
"As to the prayers you may feel moved to address to God apart from the hours devoted to the purpose, let them be short.

Imitate the Recluses of Egypt, the Fathers in the Desert, who were masters in the art of supplication.