Ivan Turgenev

“ The next day Lavretsky went to mass. Lisa was already in the church when he came in. She noticed him though she did not turn round towards him. She prayed fervently, her eyes were full of a calm light, calmly she bowed her head and lifted it again. He felt that she was praying for him too, and his heart was filled with a marvelous tenderness. He was happy and a little ashamed. The people reverently standing, the homely faces, the harmonious singing, the scent of incense, the long slanting gleams of light from the windows, the very darkness of the walls and arched roofs, all went to his heart. ”

“ For long he had not been to church for long he had not turned to God: even now he uttered no words of prayer--he did not even pray without words--but, at least, for a moment in all his mind, if not in his body, he bowed down and meekly humbled himself to earth. ”