The Place Of Prayer

Clauso quoque cubiculi ostio jubemur orare, atque in omni loco precem fundere edocemur: et sanctorum oratio inter feras, caceres, flammas, et de profoundo maris ac bestiae ventre suscepta est. Ergo non occulta domus, sed cordis nostri cubiculum ingredi, et clauso mentis nostrae secreto orare ad Deum, non multiloquio, sed conscientia admonemur, quia dictorum verbis opus omne praecellat. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap V

We are commanded to pray with the door of the inner room closed, 1 and yet we are also taught that prayer has been made in every place, for the prayers of holy men has been made amid wild animals, in prison, in flames, and even in the depths of the sea and the belly of the monster. Therefore this inner room is not a hidden place in the house but an entry into the the inner room of our heart, and so in the closed privacy of our mind we pray to God, and not in many words, but we are admonished to do so with understanding, because every deed excels the words of speech. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from the Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 5 1 Mt 6.6