After prayer he read a portion of the Bible, and then looked into the almanac, in order to remind himself of the time of the ecclesiastical year, and of the men of God, whose name-days were there recorded. It was only after he had thus sanctified himself by the word of God and prayer, that he began his labors, or wrote the most urgent letters. He always dined regularly at a fixed hour, and here not only a blessing was asked, but the Apostle's Creed was also repeated. He entertained a very high regard for this Creed, and was in the habit of repeating it three times every day. He thus speaks of it in some of his writings: "There are many reasons why we should accustom ourselves to a daily repetition of the Creed. Godly and pious men are in the habit of repeating it at least three times every day. Dr. Jerome Schurff, a wise and learned man, when he found that death was approaching, repeated it almost every hour, and that, too, with such fervency of spirit, that all could see how much he was encouraged and strengthened by this Confession." He also laid great stress upon the Lord's Prayer, the Psalms, and the Ten Commandments; and frequently exhorted his students to accustom themselves to repeat them.
This piety, which he constantly recommended to others, and practised in his domestic life, also animated all the labors of his calling. He regarded his lecture room, in which so many hearers assembled anxious to hear their master, as if it were his Church. He somewhere makes the remark: "Above the entrance of many old churches, we read the inscription, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' sculptured in the stone. This inscription should also be placed upon schools, for they are a part of the public worship of God; we there teach and learn the truth, and must unite prayer with it all." In another place he says: "We occupy this position in the name of God, in order that we may preserve and disseminate that truth which gives salvation to the human race; and God demands diligence both on the part of teachers and pupils. We must enter the school with the same feelings with which we enter the temple, namely, that we desire to learn and communicate divine things. If any man enters the school merely to acquire a portion of knowledge, which he may use for gain or empty ambition, let such an one remember that he is desecrating the holiest temple of science."