[Scriptum compendiosum Psalterii intentionem declarans]

Do not pass over divine words in their entirety, not brokenly, but with soft voices; do not breathe them out through the nose like a woman, but rather bring forth the sacred voices with the power and affection befitting a man. It is read in the first chapter of the statutes of the fathers that the discipline of psalmody among the fathers in Egypt was so great that when they gathered for their solemnities—which are called synaxes assemblies for prayer—there was such silence in the vast multitude of brothers that, besides the one who was chanting the psalter, it was believed that no man was present. This was especially true when prayer was finished, during which they would not spit, clear their throats, cough, yawn, nor did any sound resonate, unless perhaps something had stolen upon someone through an ecstasy of mind. A certain brother who was accustomed to saying the hours curiously and negligently was chanting matins one night with a companion; rather than reading, he was croaking. He heard the dyabolus devil croaking next to him in the guise of a raven, as if mocking him. Seized by fear, the brother applied greater diligence in saying the hours from then on. It is also reported that when two brothers were sitting on their beds one night, reciting the matins psalms as if lying down, the devil appeared to them with an intolerable stench, saying to them

Third, we must look at the attention to be applied in the divine office and in other prayers, and how the devil strives to distract the minds of those praying. All ecclesiastical men, and especially religious ones, should strive with all their might to ensure that what they utter with their lips is felt in their heart; otherwise, their prayer would be simeatica apish/mimicking. For an ape sometimes moves its lips in the manner of one praying, even though it does not know what it is saying. Matthew, chapter fifteen: "This people honors me with their lips." Also, in teaching, in disputing, in crafting, and in every bodily activity, a man is considered foolish who does not think about what he is working on or doing, according to the gloss that says upon the words "Sing wisely": "No one acts wisely who does not understand." How much more so in praying to God, the God of the wise, in their heart! This is said because what they say is felt in their hearts. Also, when someone speaks to his neighbor, he thinks about what he is saying, and so much the more so the greater the person is to whom he is speaking. When, therefore, we pray, we are speaking to the most high God; how much ought one to think about his prayer? Bernard: "When you have entered the church to pray, leave the tumult of fluctuating thoughts outside so that you may be free for God alone."