From Mother Jacqueline: On Short Prayers in a Busy Life

This comes from a book of daily sayings from St. Francis de Sales:

On Short Prayers in a Busy Life

(From a letter to Madame de Travernay, one of his counselees)

You ought to measure the time that you give to prayer by the multiplicity of your occupations; and since it has please our Lord to place in you a state of life in which you are exposed to perpetual distractions, you must be content with short prayers; but at the same time, they must become a daily duty, never to be omitted without real necessity.

I should like you in the morning, on your first aritsing, to kneel down and adore God, making the sign of the Cross and asking His blessing for the whole of the coming day; which can be done in the space of time which it would take to say one or two Paternosters. If you are able to be present a Mass, it will be sufficient to hear it with attention and reverence whilst saying your rosary.

In the evening, before supper or thereabouts, you might easily say a few fervent prayers, for about the space of a Pater; for there can be no duty which could bind you so closely that you cannot manage to steal this bit of leisure.

At night whilst preparing to go to bed, make a brief review of all your actions during the day; and before lying down, ask God to pardon the faults which you may have committed; beseeching Him to watch over you and to give you His blessing; all which you can do in the space of an Ave Maria. But especially I desire that during the day you should frequently retire into the solitude of your own heart with God, by short acts of fidelity and love.