Lord's Prayer

Pastoral Message for Preparatory Sunday of the Great Lent 2010

The pastoral message of His Grace Bishop Serapion for the Preparatory Week of the Great Lent 2010.


9:19 minutes (8.53 MB)

What does it mean when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed be Thy Name” or in the Liturgy “we bless You” or “we glorify You?” Also, how could St. Mary say, “My soul magnifies the Lord?” Does God Who is full and perfect need to be blessed, glorified, or magnified? Does His Holy Name need additional holiness?

St. Cyril of Alexandria, in his comment on “Hallowed be Thy Name,” affirmed that it is absolutely absurd to think that when we pray, “Hallowed be Thy Name,” we pray that additional holiness may accrue unto the all-holy God. He wondered, “If God be full and in every respect perfect in and by Himself, and the Giver of holiness to the creation out of His own holiness; what addition can He receive?” St. Cyril then explained the meaning of the prayer “Hallowed be Thy Name,” saying, “The prayer is, therefore, ‘May Thy Name be kept holy in us, in our minds and wills’; for this is the significance of the word ‘Hallowed be Thy Name’.