And Eli said unto her, How long will you be drunk? put away your wine from you.
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Caesarius of Arles
AD 542
As often as we apply ourselves to prayer, dearly beloved, we should above all pray in silence and quiet. If a man wants to pray aloud, he seems to take the fruit of prayer away from those who are standing near him. Only moans and sighs and groans should be heard. Indeed our prayer ought to be like that of holy Hannah, the mother of blessed Samuel, of whom it is written that “she prayed, shedding many tears, and only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard at all.” Let everyone hear and imitate this, especially those who pray aloud without any embarrassment and in such a chattering fashion that they do not allow those near them to pray. Therefore, let us pray, as I said, with sighs and moans and groans, in accord with the words of the prophet: “I roared with the groaning of my heart.” Let us pray, I repeat, not with a loud voice but with our hearts crying out to God. - "Sermon 72.2"
Prayer is, then, to speak more boldly, a conversation with God. Though whispering, consequently, and not opening the lips, we speak in silence, yet we cry inwardly. For God hears continually the whole inward conversation. - "Stromateis 7.7"
This Hannah does in the first book of Kings [Samuel], portraying a type of the church, [she] prays to God not with a noisy petition but silently and modestly within the very recesses of her heart. She spoke with a hidden prayer but with manifest faith. She did not speak with the voice but with the heart, because she knew that so the Lord hears, and she effectually obtained what she sought, because she asked with faith. Divine Scripture declares this, saying, “She spoke in her heart and her lips moved, but her voice was not heard, and the Lord heard her.” - "The Lord’s Prayer 5"
Let the virgins likewise form a separate band, singing hymns or reading; silently, however, so that while their lips speak, no other’s ears may hear what they say. For, “I suffer not a woman to speak in church.” Let the married woman imitate them: let her pray and her lips move but her voice not be heard. So shall Samuel come among us: your barren soul, that is to say, shall bring forth the salvation of “God who has heard your prayers.” For that is the meaning of “Samuel.” - "Catechetical Lectures, Procatechesis 14"
Much. Heli's "son or servant "(paidarion, according to the Septuagint) addressed these words to Anna. Her going to pray immediately after a feast, instead of taking recreation, increased the suspicion. (St. Chrysostom, hom. 1.)
Salien (the year before Christ 1153) observes the many instances of patience which Anna exhibits on this occasion. (Haydock)
She teaches us not to answer the unjust reproaches of our superiors with haughtiness. (Du Hamel)
But observe even after this her deep reverence. “Only her lips moved, but her voice,” it says, “was not heard.” And in this way does the one who would gain his request draw near to God; not consulting his ease, nor gaping, nor lounging, nor scratching his head, nor with utter listlessness. So was not God able to grant, even without any prayer at all? So did he not know the woman’s desire even before she asked? And yet had he granted it before she asked, then the woman’s earnestness would not have been shown, her virtue would not have been made manifest, she would not have gained so great a reward. So that the delay is not the result of envy or of witchcraft but of providential kindness. When therefore you hear the Scripture saying that “the Lord had shut up her womb” and that “her rival deeply provoked her,” consider that it is his intention to prove the woman’s seriousness. For observe that she had a husband devoted to her, for he said, “Am I not better to you than ten sons?” “And her...
At home her rival mocked her. She went into the temple, and the priest’s boy abused her and the priest upbraided her. She fled the storm at home, entered port and still ran into turbulence. She went to get a remedy, and not only did not get it but received an additional burden of taunts, and the wound instead was opened up again. You are aware, of course, how distressed souls are susceptible to abuse and insult: just as bad wounds cannot stand the slightest contact with the hand but become worse, so too the soul that is disturbed and upset has problems with everything and is stung by a chance remark. The woman, on the contrary, was not like that, even in this case with the boy abusing her. Had the priest been intoxicated, the insults would not have been so surprising; his high rank and heavy responsibility convinced her against her will to keep her composure. But in fact she was not even upset with the priest’s boy, and hence she won God’s favor even further. Should we too be abused an...
For I seek those tears which are shed not for display but in compunction; those which trickle down secretly and in closets and in sight of no person, softly and noiselessly; those which arise from a certain depth of mind, those shed in anguish and in sorrow, those which are for God alone. Such were Hannah’s, for “her lips moved,” it is said, “but her voice was not heard.” Her tears alone uttered a cry more clear than any trumpet. And because of this, God also opened her womb and made the hard rock a fruitful field. - "Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 6.8"
