Questions & Answers

Divine Liturgy

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Prayer, Fasting and Worship › Divine Liturgy

The question

Are languages other than Coptic acceptable before God for praying Liturgy?

The answer

God is omniscient. The early Fathers, for example, St. Mark or St. Gregory who wrote the liturgy did not write it in Coptic but in Greek. God will hear our prayers in any language we pray in. We do encourage praying in the Coptic language because it is the language of our ancestors and it identifies us as Copts. Also the liturgy tunes are more beautiful in Coptic than in any other language.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

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Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 1164 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.