Is it preferable for a person to pray to God with cries, or an audible voice, or a quiet voice whispering, or to pray in silence?

The words of the wise Solomon: “A time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Eccles. 3:7), apply not only in our dealings with people, but also in our worship. There is a time for silence: when we sit with the Bible; or stand before the sanctuary, when we do not utter a word so that we may hear the voice of God within us. There is a time for quiet words: when we praise with the psalms, so that our hearts may be inflamed with heavenly joy and divine love. There is a time for a clear and audible voice: when we participate with the choir and the congregation in praise, and so we feel our longing to depart to paradise, that we may join the choir of heaven and the victorious believers who are departed. This is how the mouth assists the soul in its worship, whether through silence, whispering, or singing in an audible voice; and sometimes even by crying out. The psalmist says, “In my distress, I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears” (Ps. 18:6).

St. Augustine says, “‘In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God.’ St. Paul proclaims the fulfilment of this cry addressed to the Father, saying: ‘who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear’ (Heb. 5:7). His cry was heard through His resurrection from the dead and His obtaining of the glory and the kingdom.”

“‘He heard my voice from His temple.’ He heard my voice from His dwelling in my heart! ‘And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.’ This cry of mine is not heard by the ear — but when I utter it within me in His presence, it reaches His ears!” And what is said of

22 St. Basil of Caesarea, Homily on the Martyr Julitta , quoted in NPNF II/8:ilix.

the mouth and the tongue applies to the rest of the members of the body that contribute to the sacred worship of the Lord, cooperating with the soul, heart, and mind.