Prayer is the most exalted function in which man can be engaged, because it exercises the highest faculties of the soul, – the intellect and the will; it brings us into direct communication with the greatest of all beings, –God himself; it is the channel of heaven’s choicest blessings; it excludes no one, it embraces all in the circle of its benedictions; it gives us access to our Heavenly Father at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances. In a word, prayer renders us co-operators with our Creator in the moral government of the world, since many of the events of life are shaped in accordance with our pious entreaties. Conceive, then, the dignity of God’s saints. The affairs of life are decreed from all eternity; and the eternal decrees themselves are in a measure, regulated by the prayers of His servants. “Prayer moves the Hand that moves the universe.”
–James Cardinal Gibbons