"Why Do We Bless God?" from Bishoy's Blog...
St. Cyril added that, when we ask these things, we not only ask for ourselves alone, but rather to intercede for all the dwellers upon earth. For those who already have believed, that their faith may be established and that they may be able to practice the glories of the more excellent life. For those who as yet are not believers, that they may be called and their eyes be opened.
The Scholar Origen, in his comment on St. Mary’s praise, “My soul magnifies the Lord,” wrote, “We ask how a soul can magnify the Lord. The Lord can undergo neither increase nor loss. He is what He is. Thus, why does St. Mary now say, “My soul magnifies the Lord?”…My soul is not directly an image of God. It was created as the image of the Image that already existed…Each one of us shapes his soul into the image of Christ and makes either a large or a small image of Him. The image is either dingy and dirty or it is clean and bright and corresponds to the form of the Original. Therefore, when I make the image of the Image – that is my soul –large and magnify it by work, thought and speech, then the Lord Himself is magnified in my soul, because it is an image of Him. Just as the Lord is thus magnified in our image of Him, so too, if we are sinners, He diminishes and decreases. But surely the Lord is not diminished, nor does He decrease. Rather,we create other images in ourselves instead of the Savior’s Image. Instead of being the image of the Word, or of Wisdom, justice and the rest of the virtues, we assume the form of the devil.”
In summary, God is what He is. He does not increase or decrease. He is in every respect perfect in and by Himself, and He is the Giver of holiness to all creation. In our prayer we pray that God be blessed, glorified, and magnified, and that His name be hallowed in us and in all people, believers and nonbelievers alike. We pray that our souls may be shaped in the image of Christ.
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