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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
He here shows the spirit of his prayer for them. He does not say simply, "I pray," but manifests the supplication to be heartfelt, by the "bowing of the knees." "From whom every family." That is, no longer, he means, reckoned, according to the number of Angels, but according to Him who hath created the tribes both in heaven above and in earth beneath, not as the Jewish. …
Theophylact of Ohrid
Since you have been deemed worthy of such love, and incomprehensible are the blessings which you have received and which you will yet receive in the future, I pray, he says, that the grace of Christ who dwells in you may be granted to you — the grace to comprehend this and to know how greatly you are beloved. And that this prayer is intense, he indicates by the words: "I bow my knees."
Methodius of Olympus
...as though those who were baptized into Christ had been made Christs by communication of the Spirit, the Church contributing here their clearness and transformation into the image of the Word. And Paul confirms this, teaching it plainly, where he says: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your …
Western Saints
Thomas Aquinas
As a consequence he goes on (v. 14) to implore assistance for them through a prayer that they might derive advantage from his exhortation. First, he sets down the prayer. Secondly, confident of its being heard, he adds a thanksgiving (3:20). The first part has three sections: First, he mentions to whom the prayer is addressed. Secondly, the intention of the prayer (3:16). Thirdly, the prayer's fruit (3:18). …
Bonaventure
The great teacher of the nations and preacher of truth, filled with the divine Spirit as a chosen and sanctified vessel, in this word discloses the origin, progress, and state of sacred Scripture, which is called theology: intimating that the origin of Scripture is to be understood according to the influence of the most blessed Trinity, its progress, however, according to the requirement of human capacity, and its state or fruit, according to the superabundance of the most overflowing felicity. …
Hippolytus of Rome
And these are the Logoi that have been dispersed from above, from the "Joint Fruit of the Pleroma" and (from) Sophia, into this world. And they dwell in an earthly body, with a soul, when demons do not take up their abode with that soul. This, he says, is what has been written in Scripture: "On this account I bend my knees to the God and Father and Lord of our Lord Jesus Christ, that God would grant you to have Christ dwelling in the inner man," -that is, the natural (man), not the corporeal (one),- "that you may be able to …
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