Our original rule says that we must always pray. This duty is the most important of all, and if we fulfill it as best as we can, we will also keep fasting, penitential acts, and silence, as the rule commands. Keep in mind that if a person is truly to pray, they must resort to these means, for prayer and softness do not go together. This is what I wanted to tell you about prayer, as you asked me to.
May it please God that we keep what our holy Fathers commanded and preserved. They became saints on this path: to embark on another one, whether out of our own idea or on the advice of someone else, would mean to deceive ourselves.
(Teresa of Jesus, The Way of Perfection IV,2.4)
