"O cause of all blessings" is supplication? One wonders indeed at which point does veneration morph into worship! And all along I though God was the cause and source of everything and all, especially all blessings.
I can see why the Protestants cringe, and I must say so do I, at the words of such supplications.
Perhaps "cause of all blessings" in that she gave birth to Christ. Otherwise I agree with you.
She is not a cause in the sense of the ultimate source. The Father is ultimately the source of all.
She is the cause of all blessings, however, in the sense that through her God took flesh, thus making it possible for us to achieve theosis and receive salvation. She, personally, is Again, none of this can ever be separated from the dogmatic understanding of the Church.
Yes, these things do make Protestants cringe. But again, these things are parts of our inner tradition. They are not something we emphasize as being at the center of our witness as we witness to the Christian faith.
When these prayers and services are experienced from within the totality of the Orthodox faith, they seem like the most natural thing in the world. Even to a former Protestant who was taught that Catholics were going to hell because they worshipped Mary. :-)
I can see why the Protestants cringe, and I must say so do I, at the words of such supplications.
The words mean that Christ has willed that no blessings come to us except through the intercession of Blessed Mary.
Mary is the proximate cause of all blessings, while Christ is the source and remote cause.