THE DESERT FATHERS
“Abba Macarius was asked, 'How should one pray?' The old man said, 'There is no need at all to make long discourses; it is enough to stretch out one's hands and say, Lord, as you will, and as you know, have mercy. And if the conflict grows fiercer say, Lord, help! God knows very well what we need and shows us mercy.'”
“They said of Abba Macarius the Great that he became, as it is written, a God upon earth, because, just as God protects the world, so Abba Macarius would cover the faults which he saw, as though he did not see them; and those which he heard, as though he did not hear them.” 