When you read the verses of your psalms, do not think that they are someone else’s words, which you repeat, and so you think that the psalms you have before you for spiritual study are endless, and completely overlook the devotion and joy they bring. Therefore, when you pray, read the verses with devotion, as if they were your own words, and understand what you say, as if it were your work, which you must perform perfectly.
St. Isaak the Syrian
Translated by Dr. Nick Stergiou