Is it helpful to prolong prayer?

The answer

St. Augustine says, “In view of this, it is not reprehensible or useless to pray at length when one is free, that is, when the obligations of other good and necessary works do not prevent us, although even in those, as I said, we must always pray by that desire of the heart.”⁸⁸

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Notes

⁸⁸ St. Augustine of Hippo, Letters, Volume II (83–130) 130 (FOTC 18:391).

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, Catechism of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Volumes 1 and 2, Books 1–7. First English Edition, 2023. Published by St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, Sporting, Alexandria, and Queen St. Mary & Prince Tadros Coptic Orthodox Church, South Brunswick, NJ. Copyright © 2023. Translation and Editing: Youth of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Arabian Gulf, and Egypt.