Catholic Wisdom

"It is said that Saint Bernard had the following vision: Seeing his brethren at prayer, he saw at the side of each an Angel who stood and wrote in a book. Some wrote with gold, others silver, others with ink, and still others with water, while a number wrote nothing at all. God enlightened the Saint to understand the vision in this way: the gold was the prayers of those that were offered with the greatest fervor, the silver the prayers of those whose fervor left something to be desired; the writing with ink meant that the words were carefully spoken, but there was no heart in what they prayed; the water denoted prayers in which the words were carelessly pronounced and little to no attention was given to what was being said; finally, the Angels who wrote nothing were standing next to brethren who knowingly entertained voluntary distractions."

—Saint Alphonsus di Liguori, Twelve Steps, 173.