St. John Chrystosom

“Praying, they think, can just be at home, - thus it is settled. You deceive yourself. Of course one can pray at home, but to pray therein the same way as in church, where there is such a multitude of fathers, where the hymns are sent up to God in spiritual concord, is impossible. You will not be heard so much,when praying to the Master at your home, as you would be praying with your brethren, for there there is something greater than all, that is spiritual unity, concord, the bond of love and the prayer of the priests. It is for this that the priests are present, so that the prayers of the people, being weak, might be joined to their more powerful prayers and ascend together with them into heaven… You may pray at home, but this prayer will not possess such great strength as that which is made with fellow members, when the whole body of the Church in spiritual unity and concord raise up the petitions, in the presence of the priests, who offer up the prayers of the whole people.” - St. John Chrysostom