On Prayer 31.2

It seems to me, then, that one who is about to come to prayer should pause a little and prepare himself, and so become more attentive and more intent for the whole of his prayer; having cast off every temptation and disturbance of thoughts, and having reminded himself as far as possible of the greatness of him whom he approaches, and that it is impious to approach him slackly, carelessly, and as it were contemptuously; having put away everything foreign, he should so come to pray, stretching out, as it were, his soul before his hands, and straining his mind toward God before his eyes, and raising his ruling faculty from the ground before he stands, and setting it before the Lord of all; having put away every grudge against any of those thought to have wronged him, as far as he wishes God not to bear a grudge against him, who has wronged and sinned against many of his neighbors, or is conscious of having done whatever things contrary to right reason. Nor must we doubt that, among countless positions of the body, the position with hands outstretched and eyes raised is to be preferred to all, as bearing in the body too the image of the qualities that befit the soul in prayer. We say that this should be done in the first place when there is no special circumstance; for when there is such a circumstance, it is allowed properly to pray sometimes sitting, because of some not negligible disease of the feet, or even lying down because of fevers or similar illnesses; and because of circumstances, for example if we are on a ship, or if our affairs do not allow us to withdraw and pay the prayer we owe, it is possible to pray without even appearing to do so.