The highest angelic ranks are Thrones, Seraphim and Cherubim (8 photos). Angelic ranks

In general, the life of any person determines the subtle world, having a huge influence on it. In ancient times, everyone knew that it was the subtle world that determined the physical plane. On the this moment few people remember this and want to think in this direction. And this is a very important aspect of life, because there are creatures that help us in life, and there are those who try to knock us off true path and sometimes even destroy us.

Angels of Heaven

To see all 9 ranks of angels, you should pay attention to the "Assumption" by Botticini. On it are three triads of angels. Before creating our world, visible and physical, God created heavenly, spiritual forces and called them angels. It was they who began to play an intermediary role between the Creator and people. The translation of this word from Hebrew literally sounds like “messenger”, from Greek - “messenger”.

Angels are called incorporeal beings who have free will and great power. According to information from the Old and New Testaments in the Angelic Hierarchy, there are certain angelic ranks, the so-called steps. Most Jewish and Christian theologians were engaged in the creation of a unified classification of these ranks. At the moment, the angelic hierarchy has spread the most, which was created in the fifth century and is called the "nine ranks of the angels."

nine ranks

It follows from this system that there are three triads. The first, or higher, included the Seraphim and Cherubim, as well as the Thrones. The middle triad includes the angelic ranks of Domination, Strength and Power. And in the lowest caste of ranks are the Principles, Archangels and Angels.

seraphim

It is believed that it is precisely the Seraphim who are closest to God that can be called those who occupy the highest angelic rank. It is written about them in the Bible that the prophet Isaiah became a witness of their arrival. He compared them with fiery figures, so the translation of this word from Hebrew means "Flaming".

Cherubim

It is this caste in angelic hierarchy follows the Seraphim. Their main purpose is to intercede for the human race and pray for souls before God. In addition, it is believed that they serve as a memory and are the guards of the Heavenly Book of Knowledge. The knowledge of the Cherubim extends to everything that a being created can know. In Hebrew, cherub means intercessor.

In their power are the mysteries of God and the depth of his wisdom. It is believed that this particular caste of angels is the most enlightened among all. It is their responsibility to discover in man the knowledge and vision of God. Seraphim and Cherubim, along with the third representatives of the first triad, interact with people.

Thrones

Their position before the seated God. They are called God-bearing, but not in literally this word, but because of the goodness within them and because they faithfully serve the Son of God. In addition, evolutionary information is hidden in them. Basically, it is they who perform God's justice, help earthly representatives of power to fairly judge their people.

According to the medieval mystic Jan van Ruysbroku, representatives of the higher triad under no circumstances interfere in human conflicts. But at the same time they are next to people in moments of insight and knowledge of the world. It is believed that they are able to carry the highest love in the hearts of people.

dominance

The angelic ranks of the second triad begin with Dominions. The fifth rank of angels, Dominions, has free will, thanks to which daily work Universe. In addition, they govern the angels who are lower in the hierarchy. Because they are completely free, their love for the Creator is impartial and sincere. It is they who give strength to earthly rulers and managers so that they act wisely and fairly, owning lands and ruling people. In addition, they are able to teach how to manage feelings, protecting from unnecessary outbursts of passion and lust, to enslave the flesh to the spirit, so that it is possible to control one's will and not succumb to temptations of various kinds.

Forces

This caste of angels is full of Divine strength, in their power is the fulfillment of the instantaneous will of God, showing his strength and strength. It is they who work the miracles of God and are able to give a person grace, with the help of which he can see what is coming or heal earthly diseases.

They are able to strengthen a person’s patience, remove his grief, strengthen his spirit and give courage so that he can cope with all life’s hardships and problems.

Authorities

It is the responsibility of the Authorities to keep the keys to the Devil's cage and contain his hierarchy. They are able to tame demons, repel an attack on the human race, save from demonic temptation. Also, their duties include approving good people for their spiritual exploits and labors, protecting them and preserving their right to the kingdom of God. It is they who help drive away all evil thoughts, passions and lust, as well as the enemies of a person are taken away and help to defeat the Devil in oneself. If we consider personal level then angels help the person during the battle between good and evil. And when a person dies, they accompany his soul and help him not to go astray.

Beginnings

These include legions of angels whose purpose is to protect religion. Their name is such, due to the fact that they direct the lower angelic ranks, it is they who help them to do things pleasing to God. In addition, their mission is to manage the universe and protect everything that the Lord has created. According to some reports, every nation and every ruler has his own angel, called to protect him from evil. The prophet Daniel said that the angels of the Persian and Jewish kingdoms make sure that all the rulers who have been placed on the throne strive not for enrichment and glory, but for the spread and increase of the glory of God, so that they benefit their people, serving their needs.

Archangels

The archangel is a great evangelist. Its main mission is the discovery of prophecies, understanding and knowledge of the will of the Creator. They receive this knowledge from the higher ranks in order to convey it to the lower ones, who will subsequently convey it to people. According to St. Gregory the Dialogist, the purpose of angels is to strengthen faith in a person, to open its mysteries. Archangels, whose names can be found in the Bible, are the most known to man.

Angels

This is the lowest rank in the hierarchy of heaven and the closest being to people. They guide people on the path, help them in everyday life not to deviate from their path. Every believer has his own guardian angel. They support every virtuous person from falling, they try to raise everyone who has fallen spiritually, no matter how sinful he is. They are always ready to help a person, the main thing is that he himself wants this help.

It is believed that a person receives his Guardian Angel after the rite of Baptism. He is obliged to protect the subordinate from misfortunes, troubles and help him throughout his life. If a person is threatened by dark forces, you need to pray to the Guardian Angel, and he will help fight them. It is believed that depending on the mission of a person on earth, he may be associated not with one, but with several angels. Depending on how a person lives and how spiritually developed he is, not only lower ranks can work with him, but also Archangels, whose names most people know. It is worth remembering that Satan will not stop and will always tempt people, so the Angels will always be with them in difficult times. Only by living according to the laws of God and developing spiritually can one come to know all the mysteries of religion. In principle, this is all the information that relates to the ranks of Heaven.

Angels- the essence of the host of heaven, according to the Gospel: “And suddenly there appeared with an angel a numerous host of heaven, glorifying God and crying out: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Lk. 2, 13-14).

God sends angels to proclaim His decrees. Therefore, they are called Angels, that is, messengers.

There are countless angels, the human mind is lost in their countless host.

But here the order that reigns among the heavenly spirits is amazing. Order, harmony is the beauty of perfection, the wisdom and truth of God. In the Kingdom of Heaven there is no monotony and stagnation - there is diversity, movement, activity, striving, great, multi-complex activity, unknown to us here on earth.

Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, a disciple of the holy Apostle Paul, who was raptured up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2), there he saw the difference in the ranks of the holy angels, and explained this to Dionysius, how he divides the angels into nine ranks to his disciple, and divides the nine ranks of the angels into three hierarchies - each with three ranks - the highest, middle and lowest.

First, highest and Holy Trinity The closest hierarchy is: Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones, second, middle - Powers, Dominions, Forces. The third one includes Principles, Archangels, Angels(Dionysius the Areopagite "On the Heavenly Hierarchy").

God-loving six-winged ones are coming closest to their Creator and Creator seraphim, as the prophet Isaiah saw: “Seraphim stood around Him; each of them had six wings: with two each one covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And they called to each other and said: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts! the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:2-3).

Seraphim - fiery, as directly upcoming tomu, about which it is written: “The sight of the glory of the Lord on the top of the mountain was before the eyes of the sons of Israel, like a consuming fire” (Ex. 24:17), His throne is a flame of fire (Dan. 7:9), because our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29).

Seraphim blaze with love for God and excite others to the same love, as their very name shows, for “Seraphim” in Hebrew means: flaming.

After the Seraphim, before the Omniscient God, who lives in the impregnable light, many and you are e Cherubim always shining with the light of the knowledge of God, the knowledge of the mysteries and depths of the wisdom of God, enlightening themselves and enlightening others. The name Cherubim, translated from the Hebrew language, means: much understanding or an outpouring of wisdom, for through the Cherubim wisdom is sent down to others and enlightenment is given for the knowledge of God and knowledge of God.

Then God-bearing Thrones, for on them, as on reasonable thrones (as St. Maximus the Confessor writes), God rests. Resting on them in an incomprehensible way, God performs His righteous judgment, as David said: “For You have executed my judgment and my litigation; You have sat on the throne, the righteous Judge” (Ps. 9:5). Therefore, through them, God's justice is predominantly manifested, helping earthly judges, kings, lords and rulers to carry out a righteous judgment.

In the middle hierarchy, as mentioned above, there are also three ranks of holy angels: Dominions, Powers and Powers.

dominance they send down power to prudent possession and wise management of earthly authorities, set by God, they teach to control feelings, humble indecent desires and passions, enslave the flesh to the spirit, rule over one’s own will and be above every temptation.

Forces filled with Divine strength and immediately fulfill the will of the Most High. They also work great miracles and send down the grace of miracles to the saints of God, so that they can work miracles, heal illnesses, foretell the future, help working and burdened people in carrying out the obedience entrusted to them, which explains their name of Power, i.e. they bear the infirmities of the weak. Forces strengthen each person in the patience of sorrows and misfortunes.

Authorities have power over the devil, tame the power of demons, repel temptations that are brought to people, do not allow demons to harm anyone to the extent that they wish, establish good ascetics in spiritual exploits and labors, protecting them so that they do not lose their spiritual kingdoms. Those struggling with passions and lusts are helped to drive away evil thoughts, slanders of the enemy and defeat the devil.

There are also three ranks in the lower hierarchy: Principles, Archangels and Angels.

Beginnings they rule over the lower Angels, directing them to the fulfillment of Divine commands. They are also entrusted with the management of the universe and the protection of all kingdoms and principalities, lands and all peoples, tribes and languages. s cov.

Archangels great evangelists are called, who proclaim great and glorious things. Archangels reveal prophecies, knowledge and understanding of the will of God, strengthen the holy faith in people, enlightening their minds with the light of knowledge of the Holy Gospel, and reveal the sacraments of pious faith.

Angels in the Heavenly hierarchy below all ranks and closest to people. They proclaim the lesser mysteries and intentions of God and instruct people to live virtuously and righteously for God, protect us from all evil. Angels are assigned to protect every Christian: they support us from falling, raise the fallen and never leave us, even if we have sinned, for they are always ready to help us, if only we ourselves wish.

The words of the Savior present us with convincing evidence of the Guardian Angels: “Look, do not despise any of these little ones; for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:10).

And not only every person has his Guardian Angel, but also every family, every pious society, every state.

Prophet Moses says Israeli people: "When the Most High gave inheritances to the peoples and settled the sons of men, then he set the borders of the peoples according to the number of the angels of God" (Deut. 32:8).

But all the highest heavenly ranks are called by a common name - Angels. Although they, according to their position and according to the grace given by God, have different names - Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Forces, Authorities, Principles, Archangels, Angels - however, they are all generally called Angels, for the word Angel is not the name of a being, but of service. , according to the written: “Are not all of them ministering spirits sent out to serve ...” (Heb. 1:14).

So, the Angels, fulfilling the will of God, as ministering spirits, take an active, living part in the fate of mankind. Thus, Angels proclaim to people the will of God, watch over states (Deut. 32:8), guard human societies, regions, cities, monasteries, churches, and govern various parts earth (Apoc. 7, 1; 14, 18), have influence on the private affairs of people (Gen. 32, 1-2), encourage, preserve (Dan. b, 22), lead out of prison (Acts 5, 19- 20; 12, 7-9), are present at the exit of the soul from the body, accompany its procession through the air ordeals, lift up our prayers to God and intercede for us themselves (Rev. 8:3). Angels come to serve people (Heb. 1:14), teach the truth, virtue, enlighten the mind, strengthen the will and protect in life from troubles (Gen. 16, 7-12). You can read about the appearances of good angels in the Holy Scriptures - Gen. 18:2-22; 28, 12; Nav. 5, 13-14; OK. 1, 11, 26, 28; Matt. 2, 13; Acts. 5, 19; 10, 31; 12, 7.

Above all the nine Heavenly ranks of the Angels, Archangel Michael, as a faithful servant of God, was appointed by God as the chief and leader.

During the pernicious fall into the pride of Satan, his apostasy from God and falling into the abyss, the Archangel Michael, having gathered all the ranks and armies of the Angels, loudly exclaimed: “Look, let us become good before our Creator and we will not think about what is contrary to God! Let us see what suffered those who were created together with us and hitherto, together with us, were partakers of the divine light! Let us hear how, for the sake of pride, they suddenly fell from the light into darkness and from on high fell into the abyss! Let's see how Dennitsa, rising in the morning, slept from the sky and lamented on the ground.

(Grigory the Dialogist. "Interpretation of the Four Gospels").

Speaking thus to the whole Cathedral of Angels, he, standing in front, began with the Seraphim and Cherubim and with all the heavenly ranks to glorify the Most Holy, Consubstantial and Inseparable Trinity, the One God, singing a solemn song in accordance:

“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory!”

Angels are usually depicted with two wings to indicate the speed with which they strive to fulfill the commands of God in different parts universe.

The names of the Archangels are known from the Holy Scriptures. Each of them has a special ministry.

People have known about the existence of angels since time immemorial: all peoples and in many spiritual traditions believed in them. Holy Bible mentions at once the action of angels, fulfilling the commands of God in the world and protecting righteous people with their cover. In addition to Scripture, the holy fathers also left a lot of information about angels: heavenly beings appeared to them more than once and conveyed God's Will- after all, it is not for nothing that God sends them proclaim Their commands, and that is why they are called angels, i.e. messengers.

God endowed the angels with rich gifts. They are gifted with strength and power, with the help of which they can act on the physical plane: influence the bodies of people and the world of things. However, angels never create according to their own will, but always only fulfill God's Will.

God's angels love their Creator with all their being and abide in His unceasing praise and thanksgiving singing: they thank and glorify God for the bliss in which, by His grace, they abide. The bliss in which angels abide cannot be compared with anything on earth: people who experience human bliss in rare moments of their human happiness can only feel a vague reflection of angelic bliss.

Although there are countless angels, there is a strict order and subordination between them - the angelic hierarchy.

Angelic heavenly hierarchy

The angelic hierarchy in Christianity includes nine faces, which include three ranks, and the Glory of God is poured out on angels from the highest faces to the lowest:

1st rank of angels - seraphim, cherubim, thrones;
2nd rank of angels - domination, strength, power;
3rd rank of angels - beginnings, archangels, angels

The angelic ranks obey one another and are in perfect harmony. And although the ranks and faces of the angels have their own names, they are all called by a common word angels.

seraphim are closest to God, their name means "fire of divine love." Seraphim are inflamed with this divine love and communicate it to other faces - such is their task and purpose.

Cherubim: This name means "the fullness of knowledge, the abundance of wisdom." Cherubim know absolutely everything that God makes known to created beings. Cherubim enlighten others: through them wisdom is sent to other beings for the knowledge of God.

Thrones spirits are called, on which God himself sits in an incomprehensible way and administers His righteous judgment. Thrones help earthly rulers, lords and judges to administer justice.

dominance manage other ranks, teach to control feelings, subdue passions, subordinate the flesh to the spirit. The Dominions have power over evil spirits.

Forces Spirits through which God works His miracles. God endowed these angels with His power and omnipotence.

Authorities they have power over the forces of evil, they can repel the attacks of the evil one, ward off misfortunes from people and drive away evil thoughts.

Beginnings God entrusted the management of the universe and the protection of all kingdoms, states, peoples, tribes and languages. Every country, every nation and tribe has a certain angel assigned to it from the rank of beginnings for guidance, protection and admonition. The beginnings are a kind of guardian angels, but not for one person, but for a certain group.

Archangels- Great evangelists. They utter prophecies, proclaim the Will of God to the lower angels, and through them to people. Archangels strengthen the faith of people and enlighten the mind. The most famous of the archangels - Michael, Gabriel, Uriel (aka Jeremiel), Selaphiel, Yehudiel and Barahiel - are actually archangels in rank, and seraphim, and the highest of all seraphim, are closest to God. They are called archangels because they are the leaders of all angelic powers. And the highest leader over all-all angels was appointed by God the archangel (ie leader, senior warrior) MICHAEL.

Angels are closest to people. Each person has his own guardian angel - patron and protector, his closest spiritual mentor, with whom the connection must be maintained and strengthened.

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In general, the life of any person determines the subtle world, having a huge influence on it. In ancient times, everyone knew that it was the subtle world that determined the physical plane. At the moment, few people remember this and want to think in this direction. And this is a very important aspect of life, because there are creatures that help us in life, and there are those who try to lead us astray and sometimes even destroy us.

Angels are called incorporeal beings who have a higher mind, free will and great power. According to information from the Old and New Testaments in the Angelic Hierarchy, there are certain angelic ranks, the so-called steps. Most Jewish and Christian theologians were engaged in the creation of a unified classification of these ranks. At the moment, the angelic hierarchy of Dionysius the Areopagite, which was created in the fifth century and called the "nine ranks of the Angels", has spread the most.

nine ranks

seraphim

It is believed that the six-winged Seraphim are closest to God. It is the Seraphim that can be called those who occupy the highest angelic rank. It is written about them in the Bible that the prophet Isaiah became a witness of their arrival. He compared them with fiery figures, so the translation of this word from Hebrew means "Flaming".

Cherubim

It is this caste that follows the Seraphim in the angelic hierarchy. Their main purpose is to intercede for the human race and pray for souls before God. In addition, it is believed that they serve as a memory and are the guards of the Heavenly Book of Knowledge. The knowledge of the Cherubim extends to everything that a being created can know. In Hebrew, cherub means intercessor.

Thrones

Their position before the seated God. They are called God-bearing, but not in the truest sense of the word, but because of the goodness within them and because they faithfully serve the Son of God. In addition, evolutionary information is hidden in them. Basically, it is they who perform God's justice, help earthly representatives of power to fairly judge their people.

According to the medieval mystic Jan van Ruysbroku, representatives of the higher triad under no circumstances interfere in human conflicts. But at the same time, they are next to people in moments of insight, love for God and knowledge of the world. It is believed that they are able to carry the highest love in the hearts of people.

dominance

The angelic ranks of the second triad begin with Dominions. The fifth rank of angels, Dominions, has free will, thanks to which the daily work of the Universe is ensured. In addition, they govern the angels who are lower in the hierarchy. Because they are completely free, their love for the Creator is impartial and sincere. It is they who give strength to earthly rulers and managers so that they act wisely and fairly, owning lands and ruling people. In addition, they are able to teach how to manage feelings, protecting from unnecessary outbursts of passion and lust, to enslave the flesh to the spirit, so that it is possible to control one's will and not succumb to temptations of various kinds.

Forces

They are able to strengthen a person’s patience, remove his grief, strengthen his spirit and give courage so that he can cope with all life’s hardships and problems.

Authorities

It is the responsibility of the Authorities to keep the keys to the Devil's cage and contain his hierarchy. They are able to tame demons, repel an attack on the human race, deliver from demonic temptation. Also, their duties include approving good people for their spiritual exploits and labors, protecting them and preserving their right to the kingdom of God. It is they who help drive away all evil thoughts, passions and lust, as well as the enemies of a person are taken away and help to defeat the Devil in oneself. If we consider the personal level, then the mission of these angels is to help a person during the battle of good and evil. And when a person dies, they accompany his soul and help him not to go astray.

Beginnings

These include legions of angels whose purpose is to protect religion. Their name is such, due to the fact that they direct the lower angelic ranks, it is they who help them to do things pleasing to God. In addition, their mission is to rule the universe and protect everything that the Lord has created. According to some reports, every nation and every ruler has his own angel, called to protect him from evil. The prophet Daniel said that the angels of the Persian and Jewish kingdoms make sure that all the rulers who have been placed on the throne strive not for enrichment and glory, but for the spread and increase of the glory of God, so that they benefit their people, serving their needs.

Archangels

Angels

I believe in the One God... the Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible (Symbol of faith).

Woe to heights, woe to the heart’s eye of the soul, and intelligent aspirations, with divine love, we always stretch in our souls: as if even from there we will shine with rays, we will run away from the darkness of passions, hoping from the angels to appear on the terrible throne of the Creator, and be transformed from light into light (Stikhira on "Lord, I have called" in the week of eternity, tone 2).

Many marvelous beauties are scattered before our eyes by the generous right hand of the Most High. Fields, meadows, yellowing fields, dotted with emerald flowers, dressed in a way that Solomon did not dress in all his glory, dense forests with their incessant trills of birds, wild mountains, gorges and rocks, frozen as if in their majestic pensiveness, the boundless sea, blue, with its foaming turbulent waves, a quiet brook, peacefully and gently murmuring somewhere in a green valley, the ringing song of a lark, carried away upwards, a thousand-eyed, starry sky - all this, and every blade of grass in the field, and every star in the sky, - the whole universe is full of such inexplicable beauties that, it is true, according to the confession of one teacher of the Church, the mind would not be able to bear it, the heart would not be able to contain it, if we, being born at once adults and conscious, suddenly saw all these beauties; True, the enthusiastic hymn of the King-psalmist in honor of the creator of all this beauty becomes understandable: “As Your works are exalted, O Lord, marvelous are Your works, O Lord, You have made all wisdom! Lord, our God! How wonderfully your name all over the earth! ... Thy splendor will be taken above the heavens! ()

But ... what is the essence of all these visible beauties in comparison with the invisible ones! What are these visible beauties, if not a reflection, if not a shadow from what is invisible to the eye? There is, beloved, behind this starry sky that we see, there is another sky - the sky of heavens, where the great apostle of tongues was once caught up and where he heard and saw what “Even eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and it has not risen in the heart of a man”(). This sky is also studded with stars, but such that we cannot even imagine now, stars that never fall, always shining, morning stars, as it is written in Scripture: “with the general rejoicing of the morning stars ... approved the foundations of the earth were laid and its cornerstone"(). These morning stars are the angels of the Lord.

Oh, beloved, you know, do you feel all the immeasurability of God's mercy in the fact that heaven is opened to us, the sons of dust, to us darkened by sin, enlightened spiritual eyes are granted through the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church, with which we can see the celestials, the angels of God. "From now on," we were promised, behold the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending over the Son of Man"(). “Heaven,” exclaims one preacher, “is the blessed home of invisible spirits and our future eternal home, before very little was known. Oh, this ignorance alone, how deadly and painful for us! In moments of sorrow, in hours of lamentation, where would we fly away with our souls? In the moments of death, in the hours of separation, where would we find consolation? And what kind of life would it be that must end irrevocably? It would be better not to live like this at all. And what would these joys be that should disappear forever? It would be better not to be so happy at all. Now, with the advent of Christ the Savior on earth, such thoughts cannot and should not disturb us. Now we have a sky - a country of joy and consolation, where we so often fly away from the vanities of the world to rest our souls, calm our hearts; now we have eternal life, where we will one day live a new life, inseparable from all that is so dear and dear to our hearts.

Woe to our hearts!

Woe to heights, souls woe to the eye of the heart! But ... how can a fallen man rise there when he is constantly drawn to the bottom?

“Having the substance of a mother, and the clay of the father, and the forefather, dust, I can see these affinities to the earth very much: but give me, my intercessor, and look at grief when to heavenly kindness” (Canon to the Guardian Angel).

Let us rush to this heavenly road not with our own strength, but take the wings of the word of God, the writings and testimonies of the God-wise fathers and teachers of the Church, unfold them in all their breadth and power, and surely these wings will lift up the mountain, our wavering and falling down spirit. - Woe to the height of the soul, woe to the heart's eye. Woe - to the angels - we have hearts!

Angels... What are they? What are these beings? Are there many? What do they do, how do they live in heaven? Do they ever come to earth with us?

What are angels? In all peoples, at all times, along with the innate thought about God, there has always lived the thought and this or that concept about the angelic world. And we, although we have not seen angels with bodily eyes, can still draw their image, we can say what kind of creatures they are: the thought of them is deeply embedded in our soul; mentally each of us imagines angels.

Angel ... Isn't it true, when we pronounce this word with our own lips, or hear it pronounced by the lips of others, or when we think about an angel, then every time this name evokes in us an idea of something unusually bright, pure, perfect , holy, beautifully tender, about something that the soul involuntarily yearns for, what it loves, before which it bows? And everything that we do not notice on earth is holy, bright, pure, beautiful and perfect - we all have a tendency to call and designate the name of an angel. We look, for example, at pretty children, admire their trusting eyes, their naive smile, and say: “like angels”, “angelic eyes”, “angelic smile”. We hear harmonious, touching singing, sonorous, gentle voices, we listen to their various overflows and melodies, sometimes quietly sad and thoughtful, sometimes enthusiastically solemn and majestic, and we say: “as if in heaven, as angels sing.” If we visit a family whose members live in mutual harmony, mutual love, prayer, where everything bears the stamp of some kind of quietness, meekness, some kind of extraordinary world, where the soul involuntarily rests, we will visit such a family, and we say: "live like angels." Whether any extraordinary beauty strikes our eyes, we say again: "angelic beauty." And if we are asked, if we are instructed to draw an angel, and if we own the colors, how will we depict him? Certainly in the form of a beautiful young man, in snow-white clothes, with a bright, clear face, clear eyes, with white wings - in a word, we will try to portray something attractive, tender, alien to the earth and everything sensual. And the brighter in our drawing we imprint this alienation from the earth, this, as it were, airiness, lightness, spirituality, this incorporeality, heavenliness, the more perfect the drawing will be, the more eyes it will attract to itself, the more clearly it will remind those who look about the celestial being. . So, then, what are angels, as our inner feeling, inner spiritual instinct, our inner direct experience tells us about this, first of all.

With the name of an angel, we associate the concept of everything that is most dear to us, holy, attractive, pure, perfect, beautiful, unearthly. An angel is assigned to our inner gaze as a being not of this world, spiritual, free from all coarseness and sensuality, in a word, as a heavenly being. And what our inner feeling tells us about angels, perhaps not quite clearly, vaguely, then with special clarity and obviousness reveals to us the word of God.

The Word of God is a message from heaven and about heavenly things.

And the more often and deeper we read into it, the closer the heavenly world - the angelic one becomes to us, the more tangibly we will feel it with our heart, the more clearly its victorious songs will reach our inner ear. How in clean water the sun and the starry sky are reflected, so in the word of God - this source of living water - the spiritual sky is reflected - the angelic world; in the word of God we see angels as if standing before us.

By nature, the word of God teaches us, angels are spirits. “Are not all ministering spirits, says App. Paul, - sent to minister to those who are to inherit salvation."(). “You want to know,” says the blessed. Augustine, is the name of his (angel) nature? This is the spirit. Would you like to know his position? This is an angel. In essence he is a spirit, and in activity he is an angel. But angels are spirits, not bound, like our spirit, by flesh, which opposes the spirit, captivates it with the law of sin, constrains it, cuts off its flights to heaven, constantly pulls it to the earth. Angels are spirits free from all carnality, its laws are alien to them. They are not tormented by hunger, they are not tormented by thirst. Therefore, all our stubborn labor is unknown to them in obtaining daily bread. “Cursed is the earth in your deeds, ... thorns and thistles it will grow for you ... In the sweat of your face, bring down your bread”(). This formidable verdict of Divine justice is pronounced only to fallen man, and the angels remained faithful to their Creator to the end. Thorns and thistles do not grow in heaven, sweat does not exhaust the face of an angel. They do not sow, they do not reap, they do not gather into barns, they are not dried up by the care of tomorrow; our struggle for bread, for existence, our mutual strife, strife, wars, anger, hatred, envy because of this are unfamiliar to incorporeal spirits. True, they feel hunger and thirst, but not our hunger with pain, not our thirst with suffering. Their hunger is a never ceasing need to be sated with the sweetness of contemplation of Divine beauty, the sweetness of the knowledge of eternal wisdom, to be sated with the one living bread.

“Holy bread,” the priest prays with the words of St. before the Liturgy - Holy Bread, Living Bread, Sweetest Bread. Bread of lust, Bread of the purest, full of all sweetness and incense! The angels in heaven feed on you abundantly; May the stranger on earth be satiated according to his strength with Thee!

“The angels in heaven feed abundantly,” and everyone wants to be saturated with the sweetness of the contemplation of the Divine more and more. What a lofty, truly heavenly, most blessed hunger! The angels are seized with thirst, but also with a heavenly and blissful thirst - a thirst for ever closer and closer communion with God, penetration by the Divine, enlightenment by Him. Their thirst is a never-ceasing yearning for God. A small semblance of this thirst occurs on earth. So the eagle, spreading its mighty wings to its full extent, soars up, and flies, rises higher ... higher ... there - deep into the sky. But no matter how high he rises, he must again descend to the bottom. It happens like this: our mind, in moments of greatest spiritual tension, inspiration, prayer, powerfully breaking the bonds of the flesh, like an eagle, rushes to heaven, contemplates God, is imbued with Him, thinks about Him. But, alas, our mind, fickle, wavering, again falls down from heavenly heights; breaks up into many vain thoughts, dissipates. Angels are not so: their mind is incessantly, invariably directed towards God, does not deviate from Him for a single moment, it knows no turning back. Angels "With a firm mind, a steady desire to lead beings" contemplate the Divine, sing about them. “The angels are inflamed with Divine love” (1 Octoechos, ch. A). Inflamed even by this love, kindled by the dawn of the Divine being, from this Divine thirst the angels themselves become “God-bearing coal” (2 Oktoich, ch. 2). Canon on Monday morning, ode 1. "The communion of divine fire, like a flame happens." “In fiery fires, cherubim, seraphim stand before You. God!" (3 Tone 4, Tuesday, Canto 8).

What truly divine, what the sweetest thirst! Thus, in the unceasing contemplation of God, in constant striving and elevation towards Him, in the never-ceasing hymn of His immeasurable glory and majesty, angels live in heaven.

On the path of constant aspiration and elevation to God, they do not know any stops, barriers and obstacles, they do not know the most important, the most basic, the most difficult obstacle on this path - sin, which every now and then with its bonds binds the wings of our spirit, constrains its flight. to heaven and God. Angels can no longer sin. At first they, according to the teachings of the blessed Augustine, were created by God with the possibility of sinning, then, by the steady exercise of their will in goodness, they passed into the state of the possibility of not sinning, and, finally, strengthened in obedience to God, by the power of divine grace, they became so perfect that they reached the state of the impossibility of sinning.

It is in this most blessed and holy state that the angels remain to this day in heaven.

As incorporeal spirits, angels know neither our space nor time; our modes of transportation, involving many efforts and difficulties, are unknown to them. Angels are fleeting, fast-moving: an angel is now in one place, in the twinkling of an eye - in another; there are no walls, no doors, no locks for angels. “They,” teaches Gregory the Theologian, “walk freely around the great throne, because they are fast-moving minds, flames and divine spirits, quickly transported through the air.” And they pass through a closed door, and see through the walls, and no fortress, the most solid, high and impregnable, is able to restrain their flight. On their fleeting wings, angels rush uncontrollably, freely: before “the noise of their spirit” (), like smoke, all space disappears.

And it is not only the angels themselves who rush so easily; an angel, if he approaches a person, takes him, lifts him on his wings, then space ceases to exist for a person too; covered with the roof of angelic wings, it is transported through the most remote distances in the twinkling of an eye. This is how it is narrated in the book of the Acts of the Apostles about St. app. Philippa: “An angel of the Lord said to Philip: Get up and go to noon, on the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza ... He got up and went.” On the way he met an Ethiopian husband, a eunuch, a nobleman of Candace, the queen of Ethiopia, entered into a conversation with this nobleman, converted him to Christ and baptized him. And so, “when they came out of the water, the Holy Spirit fell on the eunuch, but Philip was taken away by the angel of the Lord, and the eunuch did not see him anymore ... But Philip(straightaway) ended up in the Azot ().

Even more marvelous is narrated in the Word of God about the prophets Daniel and Habakkuk. Prophet Daniel was in captivity in Babylon; through the intrigues and malice of the pagan Babylonians, he was thrown by the king into the lions' den. He languished there for six days without food, the lions did not touch the righteous man, but hunger made itself felt. While “There was a prophet Habakkuk in Judea, who, having cooked stew and crumbling bread into a dish, went to the field to take them to the reapers. But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk: "Take this dinner that you have to Babylon to Daniel, to the lions' den." Exclaimed in surprise Habakkuk: "Sir! I have never seen Babylon, and I do not know a moat.” And then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of the head, and, holding the hair of his head, set him in Babylon over the ditch by the power of his spirit. And Habakkuk called and said, “Daniel! Daniel! take the lunch that I sent you." Daniel, full of enthusiastic feelings, thanked the Lord: “You remembered me, O God, and did not leave those who love you!” And Daniel got up and ate; the angel of God instantly put Habakkuk in his place", again to Judea ().

Wonderful, marvelous, folks!

It’s strange for us, bound by flesh, it’s strange for us, bound from everywhere by space, it’s not clear how this is possible: to be here now, and at any second be transported through hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, millions of miles and find ourselves immediately in another place, in another country , among other people, to hear a foreign language, to see another nature. Strange, but not so much that we absolutely could not accommodate such a quick movement in our minds; incomprehensibly, but not so much that such speed is in direct contradiction to our mind. A person "diminished, according to the Word of God, small chim from angel"(), in itself bears the possibility of angelic swiftness. In fact, is not, tell me, our spirit is fast-moving, is not our thought fleeting? For thought, for our spirit as well, after all, there are no barriers and obstacles. In the twinkling of an eye with thought we can travel over the most enormous distances, in the twinkling of an eye with the spirit we can visit different places. And this, now more and more intensifying, the desire to conquer, conquer space, to cut through it with all sorts of, the fastest machines, this more and more growing thirst to get off the ground, and on the newly invented airships, as if on wings, fly away there ... high, high .. where the sky is blue - what does all this say, if not that a person is truly “a small chim is belittled from an angel” that his spirit is fast-moving, his thought is fleeting, that in spirit, in thought, a person is an angel, and also not bound by space.

Alas, the sin that lives in us, and on this desire of man for angelic swiftness, imposes its heavy seal! The angelic fleetness of our thought is poisoned by its deadly and destructive poison: a person with the speed of lightning runs through entire spaces, swims across the seas in order to bring ruin and death with him as soon as possible; a man, like a bird, flies up, and from this height he throws down terrible destructive projectiles.

Oh, dear brothers, let us pray that, embedded in our spirit, in our thought, the angelic fleetness would cut deeper and deeper into the space of sin that surrounds us, let us begin to work on ourselves, so that our spirit, swiftly moving, like an angel, would soar to God , would be carried away more often to the heavenly, angelic world!

As spirits incorporeal, angels, we saw, do not know space. They do not know our time either. In heaven there is neither our yesterday, nor today, nor tomorrow, or, better, there is only today, today, everlasting existence; the angels do not know our days, or nights, or minutes, or hours; there is no winter, no spring, no summer, no autumn in their kingdom, or, better, there is only one spring, bright, joyful; among the angels - the everlasting Easter, an unceasing holiday, eternal joy, - Angels, according to the word of the Savior, "can't die anymore"(). An open, dark grave, tombstones and the monuments do not confuse the gaze of the angels, the tomb mournful songs do not disturb their hearing, our last, soul-rending “forgive me”, is unfamiliar to them, the bitterness of separation does not gnaw at their hearts, does not distort with its corrupting breath, does not disfigure angelic beauty.

Life, friends, only life lives in heaven, eternal, blessed life with God and in God - "in Him is life" (). We saw the wide, boundless sea... you look, and there is no end to it, the thought is lost, like a grain of sand, like a speck of dust in its immensity. So this is the life of an angel: it is boundless, there is no end to it and there is no measure. Every day we are getting weaker, getting older, decrepit, but with each approach to God, angels are getting younger and younger, ascending from strength to strength, from perfection to perfection.

Oh, Angels of God, what grace-filled stillness, what delight in the soul from the mere contemplation of your blessed life! From the heights above, give at least one drop of this life into our hearts!

And our heart, dear brothers, is so arranged that it has the ability to perceive, feel, on earth still anticipate the life of an angel. You know: therefore angels do not know time and everything connected with time: gradual withering, old age, death, because they live in God. And a person, when he lives in God, entering into the closest communion with him through prayer, also ceases to reckon with time, often goes beyond it, approaches the threshold of eternity. Time becomes invisible to him, he, as they say, does not notice time. Many hours pass, but it seems to him that only a few minutes have barely passed. It's so sweet to talk to God! "God," says St. John of Damascus, - in Himself contains the whole being, as if some boundless and boundless sea of essence. And whoever enters this sea, who plunges into its unexplored depths - minutes, hours - all the time disappear in these depths, and only eternity remains, and in eternity - the eternal God.

Not far from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra there is the Gethsemane Skete. In this skete, the elder, hieroschemamonk Alexander (+ 9 Feb. 1878), a tireless doer of the wise-hearted Jesus Prayer, labored in seclusion. A former student and his cell-attendant, now a venerable hegumen, a wise elder himself and a proven teacher in spiritual life, tells about this elder, says:

“It used to happen that you would go to the vigil and go to the elder, Father Alexander, - he would sit on a chair with me; you will go to the Vespers, and, at the end of the service, you will again go to the elder, and the elder still sits in the same place with prayer. Hearing the noise, he will raise his head and, seeing me, he will be as if surprised and ask: “Has the Vespers departed? I thought that I had just sat down, and four hours had already passed, I don’t see time behind the Jesus Prayer, it flows so quickly, as if it were flying.

Here on earth, in the realm of death and time, a person, in conversation with God, completely forgets time, leaves its cascading whirlpool, then it is clear to you, beloved, why in heaven, in the realm of eternal life, there is no and cannot be time at all? There, the angels have only one thing in their thoughts, one thing in their hearts - God is eternal. And “eternity,” says St. Gregory the Theologian, - there is such a continuation that extends along with the eternal, is not divided into parts, is not measured by any movement, nor by the course of the sun ... eternity is neither time nor part of time, it is immeasurable.

An immeasurable, boundless commandment was given to you and me, friends: "Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect" ().

Supported by the right hand of God, stand firmly, unswervingly on this path of spiritual growth and perfection in Christ Jesus, and you will become like angels: with all your soul you will feel how time, days, weeks, months, years begin to disappear before you, and before your eyes in all its majesty its own and immensity, as before the angels, eternity-eternity will unfold ... eternity ...

Are there many angels? Can you count them? No. The bliss of the angels is immeasurable, and their number is immeasurable. They surround the Throne of God with darkness and thousands of thousands. "I saw, - narrates the prophet Daniel, - that thrones were set up and the Ancient of Days sat down.... A river of fire went out and passed before Him; Thousands of thousands served Him, and ten thousand thousands of them stood before Him.(). And the shepherds of Bethlehem, on the holy Christmas night, saw a numerous heavenly army, which sang: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men"(). When the Lord was taken in the garden of Gethsemane, and the Apostle Peter, in defense of his Teacher, drew his sword, striking the servant of the high priest, the Lord said to Peter: “Return your sword to its place... or do you think that I cannot now implore My Father, and He will present Me more than twelve legions of angels?” ().

Legions of angels... Numerous hosts... Darkness and thousands of thousands... You see how the word of God counts the angels: with all this it wants to tell us: the angelic world is immense. That is why in the word of God angels are compared with stars (). You can admire the stars, you can, looking at them, glorify the Creator, but you cannot count them; so it is with angels: you can pray to them, you can sing about them, but you can’t say how many there are. Remarkable thoughts about the immensity of the angelic world are expressed by St. Kirill

Jerusalem. “Imagine,” he says, “how numerous the people of Rome are; imagine how numerous other rude peoples are now existing, and how many of them died in a hundred years; imagine how many are buried in a thousand years; imagine people, starting from the present day: their multitude is great, but it is still small in comparison with the angels, who are more. They are ninety-nine sheep, and the human race is only one sheep; by the vastness of the place one should also judge the number of inhabitants.

The earth we inhabit is, as it were, a certain point located in the center of the sky: therefore, the sky surrounding it has as many inhabitants as the space is larger; and the heavens of heavens contain their immense number; “Thousands of thousands will serve Him, and ten thousands of them will stand before Him”(); this is not because it was precisely the number of angels, but because more the prophet could not speak. So great, so vast is the angelic world! And what order, what wondrous harmony, harmony and peace reign in the angelic world, with all its immensity! Do not think to look among the angels, looking at their mutual love, equality or unbridled freedom, which is often exhibited and preached by us as an ideal, as the height of perfection. No, you will not find anything like this among the angels. “And there,” remarks one saint, “some rule and stand before, others obey and follow. Essential and complete equality is found only between the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

But, oh, why, someone will say, differences, degrees even among the celestials? Is it really impossible to do without ranks and degrees in heaven? And besides, don't degrees and ranks bring some discord, some disharmony into the life of angels? And is complete bliss possible with an unequal distribution of it? If in heaven, too, some rule and come forward, while others obey and follow, then is it not possible there, too, that almost always takes place here on earth: those who obey and those who follow do not harbor some feeling of envy, some discontent towards those who are in charge and upcoming? Does the higher state of some and the lower of others not cast at least the smallest shadow on the bright angelic life? All such perplexed questions arise in us because we are too attached to the earth, so that we often think about heaven in an earthly way, and we transfer to heaven what we are related to on earth, completely losing sight of the most basic , the sharpest difference between heaven and earth: on earth there is sin, in heaven there is none. And it is from sin that they originate and grow, as from a root, all sorts of abnormalities, all sorts of deviations from truth and truth. So it is in this case: it is not the difference in degrees and ranks that gives rise to discontent and envy in those who are distinguished, but gives the difference its own sinful shade of vanity, fulfilling the difference with its poisonous bitterness. Earthly distinction often springs from petty vanity, it is nourished and supported by it, introducing into the highest feelings of love of power, ambition, unmercifulness, even cruelty in relation to the lower ones; in the lower ones, it settles murmuring, developing flattery, cringing, servility, hypocrisy, servility. All of these are distortions of sin. It can't be in heaven. The ranks and degrees of angels are, as it were, various tones the same harmony, different colors of a single picture of the great Artist - the Creator. The difference of angels is the difference of stars in the blue sky, the difference of fragrant flowers in green meadows; the difference of angels is the difference of voices in a slender choir, a difference that creates harmony, grandeur, beauty.

How do we know, beloved, about the ranks and degrees of angels? He said, told us about this the one who himself, with his own eyes, saw these ranks and degrees of angels, who himself heard their touching songs, their victorious hymns - the supreme apostle of tongues, Paul. "I know," he says of himself, a man in Christ, who ... whether in the body - I do not know, whether outside the body - I do not know: he knows - he was caught up to the third heaven ... into paradise, and heard inexpressible Verbs , which a man cannot tell"(). It is impossible because the heart cannot withstand it, the mind cannot contain it. That is why the apostle Paul could not tell anyone the verbs he heard in heaven. But about what the structure of the life of angels is, what degrees there are among them - the apostle told about all this to his disciple, whom he converted from the pagans to Christ when he was in Athens. The name of this disciple of Pavlov is Dionysius the Areopagite (he was a member of the Areopagus, the supreme court of Athens). Dionysius wrote down everything he heard from Paul and compiled a book: "On the Heavenly Hierarchy."

According to this book, the structure of the angelic world is presented in this form: all angels are divided into three faces, and in each face there are three ranks.

So, the first face: it has three ranks. The first rank is Seraphim; second rank - Cherubim; third rank - Thrones.

Finally, the third face, and in it the following three ranks: the first rank - Beginnings; the second rank is the Archangels; the third rank is the angels.

So, you see, all angels are divided into three faces and nine ranks. So it is customary to say: "nine orders of angels." What a divine order, what marvelous harmony! Do you not notice, beloved, in the structure of the angelic world a clear imprint of the Divine Itself? one, but trinity in persons. Look: even in the angelic world this Three Sun Light shines. And, take note, what a strict sequence, what a wonderful trinity arrangement, trinity unity: one face and three ranks; and again: one face and three ranks; and again: one face and three ranks. What is this if not a clear reflection of the Holy Trinity, not a deep trace of the Triune God? One God - one face; three Persons - three ranks. And, then, this repetition, this is some kind of amplification, divine multiplication: one face, one face, one face - one is taken three times; ranks: three, three, three - it turns out: three times three. Such multiplication, repetition, as if emphasizing does not mean that the radiance of the Three Sun Light pours out in the angelic world especially abundantly, not only pours out, but also overflows, that the everlasting life of the Triune Source flows into heavenly powers never interrupted, abundant, multiplied flow.

Yes, deep, incomprehensible is the mystery of the Trinitarian Divinity, just like the Spirit of God tests and knows these depths of God; deep, incomprehensible is the mystery and three-fold nature of the angelic world - and the angels themselves do not fully comprehend it. Truly, “Great art Thou, O Lord, and marvelous are Thy works, not a single word will be sufficient for the singing of Thy wonders!”

Let us now dwell more carefully on each angelic rank separately.

The first rank of angels - Seraphim

Of all the ranks of heaven, the Seraphim are the closest to God; they are the first participants in divine bliss, the first to shine with the light of magnificent divine glory. And what most amazes and astonishes them in God is His infinite, eternal, immeasurable, unsearchable love. They, in all their strength, in all their depth, incomprehensible to us, perceive, feel God exactly as, through this they approach, as it were, the very doors, the very Holy of Holies of that "Unapproachable Light" in which God lives (), through this entering into the most intimate, most sincere communion with God, for God Himself is: “God is loved” ().

Have you ever looked at the sea? You look, you look at its boundless distance, at its boundless expanse, you think about its bottomless depth, and ... the thought is lost, the heart stops, the whole being is filled with some kind of sacred awe and horror; to fall prostrate, to close oneself before the clearly felt, boundless majesty of God, displayed by the boundlessness of the sea. Here is some, although the weakest, similarity, a barely noticeable, thin shadow of what the Seraphim are experiencing, constantly contemplating the immeasurable, unsearchable sea of Divine love.

God-Love is the fire that devours, and the Seraphim, constantly clinging to this fiery Divine Love, are filled with the fire of the Divine primarily before all other ranks. Seraphim - and the word itself means: fiery, fiery. The fiery-burning Divine, by the inscrutableness of Its mercy, the immensity of Its condescension to all creatures, and above all to the human race, for the sake of which this Love humbled itself even to the cross and death, always leads the Seraphim into an indescribable sacred awe, plunges them into horror, makes the whole being shudder them. They cannot endure this great Love. They cover their faces with two wings, their legs with two wings, and fly with two, in fear and trembling, in reverence in the deepest singing, crying, crying out and saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts!”

Burning with love for God themselves, the six-winged Seraphim ignite the fire of this love in the hearts of others, purifying the soul with divine fire, fulfilling its strength and strength, inspiring preaching - to burn the hearts of people with the verb. So, when the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, seeing the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, surrounded by Seraphim, began to lament about his impurity, exclaiming: “Oh, accursed Az! For I am a man with unclean lips ... - and my eyes saw the King, the Lord of Hosts! .. Then says the prophet himself. One of the Seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a burning coal, which he took with tongs from the altar, and touched my lips and said: behold, I will touch this with your mouth, and your iniquities will be taken away and your sins will be cleansed.” ().

Oh, fiery Seraphims; purify with the fire of divine love, kindle our hearts too, yes, apart from God, we do not wish for any other beauty; may our hearts be the only joy, the only delight, the only good, the beauty before which all earthly beauty fades!

The second rank of angels - Cherubim

If for the Seraphim God appears as a fiery one, then for the Cherubim God is a shining Wisdom. Cherubim incessantly delve into the divine mind, praise, sing of it in their songs, contemplate the divine mysteries, penetrate them with trepidation. That is why, according to the testimony of the Word of God, in the Old Testament the Cherubim are depicted crouching over the Ark of the Covenant.

"And do," the Lord said to Moses, from the gold of two Cherubim... Make them on both ends of the lid(The Ark). Make one Cherubim from one side, and another Cherubim from the other side ... And there will be Cherubims with outstretched wings, covering the cover with their wings, and their faces will be towards each other, the faces of the Cherubim will be towards the cover. ().

Marvelous image! So it is in heaven: Cherubim with tenderness, with fear, look at the Divine Wisdom, explore it, learn from it, and, as it were, cover its secrets with their wings, keep them, cherish, revere them. And this reverence for the mysteries of Divine Wisdom is so great among the Cherubim that any bold inquisitiveness, any proud gaze at the Mind of God is immediately cut off by them with a fiery sword.

What, indeed, “the depth of the wealth, wisdom and mind of God” lies before the eyes of the Cherubim! No wonder they are called "multiple-eyed." This means: from the unceasing contemplation of the Divine Wisdom, the Cherubim themselves are full of knowledge, and therefore they see and know everything perfectly, and knowledge is promised to people.

The third rank of angels - Thrones

Of course, you know what a throne is, with what meaning this word is often used among us? They say, for example, "The King's Throne" or "The King's Throne", "The King said from the height of the Throne." With all this they want to show dignity, royal greatness.

The throne, therefore, is the personification of royal majesty, royal dignity. Here in heaven there are their Thrones, not our material, soulless ones, made of gold, silver, bone or wood and serving only as symbols, but intelligent Thrones, living bearers of the greatness of God, the glory of God. Thrones, primarily before all the ranks of the angels, feel, contemplate God as the King of Glory, the King of the entire universe, the King who creates judgment and truth, the King of Kings, as "God the Great, Strong and Terrible" (). "Lord, Lord, who is like You?" ()... “Who is like You in bosekh. Lord, who is like Thee: glorified in the saints, wondrous in glory.” (). "Great is the Lord and highly praised and His majesty has no end" ()... "Great and unending, high and immeasurable"()! All these hymns to the majesty of God, in all their fullness, depth and truth, are understandable and accessible only to Thrones.

Thrones not only feel and sing of the majesty of God, but they themselves are filled with this majesty and glory, and others are allowed to feel it, poured, as it were, into human hearts, filling them with waves of majesty and glory of the Divine.

There are moments when a person is somehow especially clearly aware of the mind and with some special strength feels the greatness of God in his heart: thunder, lightning, marvelous views of nature, high mountains, wild rocks, worship in some magnificent large temple - all it often captures the soul so much, strikes the strings of the heart so much that a person is ready to compose and sing laudatory psalms and songs; before the perceived greatness of God, he disappears, is lost, falls on his face. Know, beloved, such holy moments of a clear sense of the greatness of God do not happen without the influence of Thrones. It is they who, as it were, join us to their mood, throw its sparkles into our hearts.

Oh, if the Thrones visited us more often, more often they would send us a sense of the greatness of God and our own insignificance! Then we would not have been haughty, we would not have been so haughty with our minds, as we often are haughty and haughty, not knowing our own worth, almost revering ourselves as a god.

Fourth rank of angels - Domination

Dominions ... Think about this name. Doesn't it remind you of another like him? “Lord”... This is, no doubt, where the “Domination” is borrowed from. So, in order to understand what these latter are, it is necessary to understand in what sense the name Lord is used.

You have heard: in everyday life we say: "the master of the house" or "the master of such and such an estate." What do they want to express with this? And the fact that a person whom we call the master of a house or estate, holds his house or estate in his hands, manages it, takes care of its well-being, provides for it, is “a good owner”, as they say among us. So God is called the Lord because he takes care of the world created by Him, provides for it, is its Supreme Owner. “He,” says blessed Theodoret, “is himself both a shipbuilder and a gardener who has grown matter. He created the substance, and built the ship, and constantly controls its helm. “From the shepherd,” teaches St. Ephraim the Syrian, - the flock depends, and everything that grows on earth depends on God. In the will of the farmer is the separation of wheat from the thorns, in the will of God is the prudence of those living on earth in their mutual unity and unanimity. It is in the will of the king to arrange regiments of soldiers, in the will of God - a certain charter for everything. So, another teacher of the Church notes, “neither on earth nor in heaven, nothing remains without care and without providence, but the care of the Creator equally extends to everything invisible and visible, small and great: for all creatures need the care of the Creator, equally as well as each separately, according to its nature and purpose. And “not for one day does God cease from the work of managing creatures, so that they would not immediately deviate from their natural paths, by which they are led and directed towards achieving the fullness of their development, and each remaining in its own way what it is.”

Here, in this domination, in this management of God's creatures, in this care, God's providence for everything invisible and visible, small and great, and the Lords penetrate.

For the Seraphim, God is fiery; for the Cherubim, the luminous Wisdom is brought forth; for Thrones God is the King of Glory; for Dominions, God is the Lord-Provider. Predominantly before all other ranks of the Dominion, they contemplate God precisely as a Provider, sing of His care for the world: they see "and in the sea the way, and in the waves his strong path"(), look with fear as “Toy will change times and summers, supply kings and put down”(). Full of sacred delight and tenderness, the Dominion enters into the many different cares of God: he puts on the krins of the countryside, "For as Solomon in all his glory is clothed, as one of these"() how He dresses “The sky is clouds, it prepares rain for the earth, grass and cereals vegetate on the mountains for the service of man: it gives their food to cattle, and to the chicks of the crows that call on Him”(). The Dominions marvel at how God, so great, embraces everyone and everything with His care; keeps and protects every blade of grass, every midge, the smallest grain of sand.

Contemplating God as a Provider - the Builder of the world, Domination and people are taught to organize themselves, their soul; they teach us to take care of the soul, to provide for it; they inspire a person to dominate his passions, over various sinful habits, to oppress the flesh, giving scope to the spirit. Domination must be prayerfully invoked to help anyone who wants to free himself from any passion, wants to dominate it, to get behind some bad habit, but cannot do this because of weakness of will. Let such one cry out: “Holy dominions, strengthen my weak will in the fight against sin, let me rule over my passions!” And, believe, such a prayerful invocation will not remain fruitless, and now help and strength will be sent to you from the host of Dominions.

Fifth rank angelic - Forces

Predominantly before all other ranks, this angelic rank contemplates God as creating many powers or miracles. For the Forces, God is the Miracle Worker. "You do wonders"(), - this is what constitutes the subject of their constant praise and glorification. Forces delve into how "wherever he wants, the order of nature is conquered." Oh, how enthusiastic, how solemn, how wondrous must these songs be! If we, clothed with flesh and blood, when we are witnesses of some obvious miracle of God, for example, the sight of the blind, the restoration of the hopelessly ill, come into indescribable delight and awe, we are amazed, moved, then what can we say about the Forces, when they are given to see miracles that our minds cannot even imagine. Moreover, they can delve into the very depths of these miracles, their highest goal is revealed to them.

The sixth rank of the angelic - Power

The angels belonging to this rank contemplate and glorify God as the Almighty, "who has all power in heaven and on earth." A terrible God, “His vision dries up the abyss, and the prohibition melts the mountains, who walked, as if on dry land, on the splashing of the sea, and forbade the storms of the winds; who touches the mountains and smokes; calling on the water of the sea, and shedding it on the face of all the earth."

The angels of the sixth rank are the closest, constant witnesses of God's omnipotence, they are given the opportunity to feel it before others. From the constant contemplation of the Divine power, from the constant contact with it, these angels are imbued with this power in the same way that red-hot iron is imbued with fire, which is why they themselves become carriers of this power and are called: Powers. The power with which they are clothed and filled is unbearable for all his hordes, this power turns the devilish hordes to flight, to the underworld, to pitch darkness, to tartar.

That is why all who are tormented by the devil must prayerfully call for the help of the Authorities; about all the demoniac, various seizures, hysterics, spoiled ones - one must pray daily to the Authorities: “Holy authorities, with the power from God given to you, drive away from the servant of God (name) or the servant of God (name) the demon who torments him (or her)!”

When the demon of despondency attacks the soul, one must also pray to the Authorities so that they drive away this demon with their power. With faith, in the simplicity of the heart called upon, the Authorities will not hesitate to come to the rescue, they will drive out the demon, and the demon-possessed will feel free from it, will feel spaciousness and lightness in his soul.

The seventh rank of the angels - Beginnings

These angels are so called because God entrusted them with command over the elements of nature: over water, fire, wind, "over animals, plants and in general over all visible objects." “Creator and Builder of the world. God, - says the Christian teacher Athenagoras, - placed some of the angels over the elements, and over the heavens, and over the world, and over what is in it, and over their structure. Thunder, lightning, storm... all this is controlled by the Beginnings, and directed, as it pleases the will of God. It is known, for example, that lightning often strikes blasphemers; the hail beats one field, leaving the other unscathed... Who gives a soulless, unreasonable element such a reasonable direction? Beginnings do it.

"I saw, - says the seer St. John the Theologian, - A mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed with a cloud; there was a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun... And he put his right foot on the sea, and his left on the land, and exclaimed with a loud voice, like a roaring lion; and when he cried out, then seven thunders spoke with their voices"(); saw and heard the apostle John and "water angel"(), and "an angel who has command over the fire "(). "I saw, - testifies the same St. John- four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that the wind does not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree ... - it is given to them to harm the earth and the sea ” ().

The principles also have dominion over entire peoples, cities, kingdoms, and human societies. In the word of God there is, for example, a mention of a prince or an angel of the kingdom of Persia, the kingdom of Hellenism (). The beginnings lead, entrusted to their superiors, the peoples to the highest good goals, which the Lord Himself indicates and outlines; “They are building,” according to St. Dionysius the Areopagite, - how many can those who willingly obey them, to God, as to their Beginning. They intercede for their people before the Lord, “inspire,” notes one saint, “people, especially kings and other rulers, with thoughts and intentions related to the good of nations.”

Eighth rank - Archangels

This rank, says St. Dionysius of learning. Archangels are heavenly teachers. What are they teaching? They teach people how to arrange their lives according to God, that is, according to the will of God.

Different paths of life are before man: there is the path of monasticism, the path of marriage, and there are various kinds of service. What to choose, what to decide, what to stop? This is where the Archangels come to the aid of man. To them the Lord reveals His will concerning man. The archangels know, therefore, what awaits famous person on this or that path of life: what hardships, temptations, temptations; therefore, they deviate from one path, and direct a person to another, teach them to choose the right path, suitable for him.

Whoever has broken his life, hesitates, does not know which way to go, he must call on the help of the Archangels, so that they teach him how he should live: “Archangels of God, determined by God Himself to teach us, admonish, teach me which path to choose I’ll go and please my God!”

The last, ninth rank of the angels - Angels

These are the closest to us. The angels continue what the archangels begin: the archangels teach a person to recognize the will of God, put him on the path of life indicated by God; Angels lead a person along this path, guide, protect the one who walks, so that he does not deviate to the side, they strengthen the exhausted, and lift the falling one.

Angels are so close to us that they surround us from everywhere, they look at us from everywhere, they watch our every step, and, according to St. John Chrysostom, "the whole air is filled with angels"; Angels, according to the same saint, "appear to the priest at the time of the terrible Sacrifice."

From among the angels, the Lord, from the moment of our baptism, assigns to each of us another special angel, which is called the Guardian Angel. This Angel loves us so much as no one on earth can love. The Guardian Angel is our true friend, an invisible quiet interlocutor, a sweet comforter. He wants only one thing for each of us - the salvation of the soul; to this he directs all his cares. And if he sees us also caring about salvation, he rejoices, but if he sees us being careless about his soul, he mourns.

Do you want to always be with an angel? Run away from sin, and the Angel will be with you. “Just as,” says Basil the Great, “smoke and stench drives away bees, so the Guardian of our life, the Angel, is repelled by lamentable and stinking sin.” Therefore, be afraid to sin!

Is it possible to recognize the presence of the Guardian Angel when he is near us and when he moves away from us? You can, according to the inner mood of your soul. When your soul is light, your heart is light, quiet, peaceful, when your mind is occupied with contemplation of God, when you repent, you are touched, then, therefore, there is an Angel nearby. “When, according to the testimony of John of the Ladder, at some utterance of your prayer you feel inner delight or tenderness, then stop over it. For then the Guardian Angel prays with you.” When there is a storm in your soul, passions in your heart, your mind is haughty, then know that the Guardian Angel has departed from you, and instead of him the demon has approached you. Hurry, hurry then call the Guardian Angel, kneel before the icons, fall down, pray, overshadow yourself sign of the cross, cry. Believe, your Guardian Angel will hear your prayer, come, drive away the demon, say to the restless soul, to the overwhelmed heart: "Be quiet, stop." And great silence will come in you. Oh, Guardian Angel, always keep us from the storm, in the silence of Christ!

Why, someone will ask, is it impossible to see an Angel, why can’t you talk, talk with him the way we talk with each other? Why can't an angel appear in a visible way? Therefore, in order not to frighten, not to confuse us with his appearance, for he knows how cowardly, fearful and timid we are in front of everything mysterious.

The prophet Daniel was once seen in a visible manner by an angel; but listen to the prophet himself tell what happened to him at this apparition. "On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, says the prophet, I was on the banks of the great river Tigris, and I lifted up my eyes, and saw: behold, a man clothed in linen, and his loins were girded with gold. His body is like a topaz, his face is like a kind of lightning; his eyes are like burning lamps, his hands and feet are in appearance like shining bronze, and the voice of his speech is like the voice of a multitude. And I looked at this great vision, but there was no strength left in me, and the appearance of my face changed tremendously, there was no vigor in me. And I heard the voice of his words; and as soon as I heard the voice of his words, in a daze I fell on my face and lay with my face to the ground, and became dumb, my insides turned in me, and there was no strength in me, and my breath stopped in me.(). It was necessary for the angel to deliberately encourage the prophet, so that he would not die of fear at all. "Daniel," says St. John Chrysostom, - who confused the eyes of lions and in human body had strength higher than human, could not bear the presence of a celestial, but fell down lifeless. What would happen to us, sinners, if an Angel suddenly appeared before us with our own eyes, when even the prophet could not bear his luminous appearance!

And then: are we worthy of the appearance of an Angel? Here is a significant incident from his life told by Metropolitan Innokenty of Moscow, who used to be a priest (his name was Father John), a missionary in the Aleutian Islands: “Having lived on Unalaska Island for almost 4 years, I, in Great Lent, went for the first time to the island of Akun to the Aleuts to prepare them for fasting. Approaching the island, I saw that they were all dressed up on the shore, as if on a solemn holiday, and when I went ashore, they all joyfully rushed to me and were extremely kind and helpful to me. I asked them, "Why are they so dressed up?" They answered: “Because we knew that you had left and should be with us today: then we were overjoyed and went ashore to meet you.”

“Who told you that I would be with you today, and why did you recognize me that I was Father John?”

“Our shaman, old man Ivan Smirennikov, told us: wait, a priest will come to you today: he has already left and will teach you to pray to God; and described to us your appearance as we now see you.”

“Can I see this old shaman of yours?” “Why, you can: but now he is not here, and when he comes, we will tell him; Yes, he himself will come to you without us.

Although this circumstance greatly surprised me, I ignored all this and began to prepare them for fasting, having previously explained to them the meaning of fasting and other things. This old shaman also came to me and expressed a desire to go to fast and walked very carefully, and yet I did not pay special attention to him and, during confession, I even missed asking him why the Aleuts call him a shaman, and making him about it some instruction. Having introduced him to the Holy Mysteries, I let him go...

And what? To my surprise, after communion, he went to his toen and showed him his displeasure with me, namely, because I did not ask him in confession why the Aleuts call him a shaman, since it is extremely unpleasant for him to bear such a name from his brethren, and that he is not a shaman at all. Toen, of course, conveyed to me the displeasure of the old man Smirennikov, and I immediately sent for him to explain; and when the messengers set off, Smirennikov met them with the following words: "I know that the priest Father John is calling me, and I am going to him." I began to ask in detail about his displeasure with me, about his life, and to my question whether he was literate, he replied that although he was illiterate, he knew the Gospel and prayers. Then he asked him to explain why he knew me, that he even described my appearance to his brethren, and how he knew that on a certain day I should come to you and that I would teach you to pray. The old man replied that two of his comrades had told him all this.

“Who are these two of your comrades?” I asked him. “White people,” the old man replied. “They also told me that you, in the near future, will send your family along the shore, and you yourself will go by water to a great man and talk to him.”

“Where are these white people of yours, and what kind of people are they and what kind of appearance are they?” I asked him.

“They live not far here in the mountains and come to me every day,” and the old man introduced them to me in the way that St. Archangel Gabriel, that is, in white robes and girded with a pink ribbon over his shoulder.

“When did these white people come to you for the first time?” "They appeared soon, as Hieromonk Macarius had christened us." After this conversation, I asked Smirennikov: “Can I see them?”

“I will ask them,” the old man replied and left me. I went for some time to the nearest islands, to preach the word of God, and, on my return, seeing Smirennikov, I asked him: “Well, you asked these white people if I could see them, and if they wanted to receive me? »

“I asked,” the old man replied. “Although they expressed a desire to see and accept you, they said: “Why should he see us when he himself teaches you what we teach?” So let's go, I'll bring you to them."

Then something inexplicable happened in me,” Father John Veniaminov said. - Some kind of fear attacked me and complete humility. What if, in fact, I thought, I will see these angels, and they will confirm what the old man said? And how can I go to them? After all, I am a sinful person, and therefore unworthy to speak with them, and it would be pride and arrogance on my part if I decided to go to them; and, finally, by my meeting with the angels, I, perhaps, would have exalted myself with my faith or imagined a lot about myself ... And I, as unworthy, decided not to go to them, having previously, on this occasion, given a decent instruction, both old Smirennikov and his fellow Aleuts, and that they no longer call Smirennikov a shaman.

No, let us not desire the appearance of an Angel, but let us more often intelligently and cordially turn to him. In order not to break communion with the Guardian Angel, it is necessary to pray to him daily, in the morning, when waking up from sleep, and in the evening, when going to bed, reading the prescribed Orthodox prayers, as well as the canon to the Guardian Angel.

Thanks be to the Lord, who has protected us with His angels, and who also sends each angel a peaceful, faithful mentor and guardian of our souls and bodies - glory to Thee, our Benefactor, forever and ever!