Gregorius I Magnus, Homiliarum In Evangelia Libri Duo

7. Novem vero angelorum ordines diximus, quia videlicet esse, testante sacro eloquio, scimus angelos, archangelos, virtutes, potestates, principslus, domi- nat iones, thronos, cherubim, atque seraphim. Esse namque angelos et archangelos pene omnes sacri eloquii paginae testantur. Cherubim vero atque seraphim saepe, ut notum est, libri prophetarum loquun- tar. Quatuor quoque ordinum nomina 1604 Paulus apostolus ad Ephesios enumerat, dicens : Supra omnem principatum, et potestatem, et virtutem, et dominationem (Eph. I, 21). Qui rursus ad Colos- senses scribens, ait : Sive throni, aive potesta'eI, sive principatus, sive dominatione. (Coloss. I, ł6). Dominationes vero et principatus ac potestates jam ad Ephesios loquens descripserat; sed ea quoque Colos- sensibus dicturus, praemisit thronos, de quibus necdum quidquam fuerat Ephesiis locuLus. Dum ergo illis quatuor quae ad Ephesios dixit, id est principati- bus, potestatibus, virtutibus atque dominationibus, conjunguntur throni, quinque sunt ordines qui specialiter exprimuntur. Quibus dum angeli et archan- geti, cherubim atque seraphim, adjuncta sunt, pro- cui dubio novem esse angelorum ordines inveniun- tur. Unde et ipsi angelo, qui primus est conditus, per prophetam dicitur : Tu signaculum similitudinis, ple- nUl sapientia, et perfectua decore, in deliciis paradisi Dei fuisti (Ezech. XXVIII, ł2). a Ubi notandum quod non ad similitudinem Dei factus, sed signaculum similitudinis dicitur, b ut quo in eo subtilior est natura, eo in illo imago Dei e similius insinuetur expressa. Quo in loco mox subditur : Omnis lapis pretiosus operimentum tuum : sardius, topazius, et jaspis, ehry- solythus, onyx, et beryllus, sapphirus, carbunculus, et smaragdus (Ibid., 13). Ecce novem dixit nomina lapidum, quia profecto novem sunt ordines angelorum. Quibus nimirum ordinibus ille primus angelus ideo ornatus et opertus elslilit, quia dum cunctis agmini- bus angelorum prælatus est, ex eorum comparatione clarior fuit.

7. We have said that there are nine orders of angels, because, as sacred scripture testifies, we know that there are angels, archangels, virtues, powers, principalities, dominions, thrones, cherubim and seraphim. For almost every page of sacred scripture testifies that there are angels and archangels. And the books of the prophets, as is well known, often speak of cherubim and seraphim. The apostle Paul, too, lists the names of four orders to the Ephesians, saying: 'Above every principality and power and virtue and dominion' (Eph. 1:21). And again, writing to the Colossians, he says: 'Whether thrones, or powers, or principalities, or dominions' (Col. 1:16). Now he had already described dominions and principalities and powers when speaking to the Ephesians; but when he was about to speak of these to the Colossians as well, he put thrones first, about which he had not yet said anything to the Ephesians. So when thrones are joined to those four which he named to the Ephesians, that is, principalities, powers, virtues and dominions, there are five orders that are expressly named. And when angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim are added to these, there are found beyond doubt to be nine orders of angels. Hence too it is said through the prophet to that very angel who was created first: 'You were the seal of likeness, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, in the delights of the paradise of God' (Ezek. 28:12). Here it should be noted that he is said not to have been made to the likeness of God, but to be the seal of likeness, so that the finer the nature in him, the more closely the image of God may be shown to be impressed in him. In that place it is presently added: 'Every precious stone was your covering: sardius, topaz and jasper, chrysolite, onyx and beryl, sapphire, carbuncle and emerald' (ibid. 13). See, he named nine stones, because there are indeed nine orders of angels. That first angel stood adorned and covered with these orders for this reason: because, while he was set above all the hosts of angels, he was the more brilliant by comparison with them.

8. Sed cur istos persistentium angelorum choros enumerando perstrinximus, si non eorum quoque ministeria subtiliter exprimamus ? Graeca etenim lingua angeli nuntii, archangeli vero summi nuntii, vocantur. Sciendum quoque quod angelorum vocabulum, nomen est officii, non naturæ. Nam sancti ilii cœlestis patriae spiritus semper quidem sunt spiritus, sed semper vocari angeli nequaquam possunt, quia tunc solum sunt angeli, cum per cos aliqua nuntiantur; unde et per Psalmistam dicitur : Qui facit angelos suos spiritus (Psal. CIII, 4). Ac si patenter dicat : Qui eos qnos semper habet spiritus, etiam cunt voluerit, angelos faciL Hi autem qui mini- ma nuntiant, angeli, qui vero summa annuntiant, archangeli, vocamur. Hinc est enim qnod ad Mariam virginem non quilibet angelus, sed Gabriel archan- gelus, mittitur (Luc. I, 26). Ad hoc quippe mmiste- rinm summum angelum venire dignum fuerat, qui summum omnium nuntiabat. Qui idcirco etiam privatis nominibus censentur, ut signetur per vocabula etiam in operatione quid valeant. Neque enim in illa sancta civitate, quam de visione omnipotentis Dei plena scientia perficit, ideirco propria nomina sortiuntur, ne eorum personae sine nominibus sciri non possint; aed cum ad nos aliquid ministrari veniunt, apud nos etiam nomina a ministeriis trahunt.

8. But why have we touched on these choirs of the angels who stood firm by listing them, if we do not also set out their ministries precisely? For in the Greek language angels are called 'messengers', and archangels 'chief messengers'. It should also be known that the word 'angel' is the name of an office, not of a nature. For those holy spirits of the heavenly homeland are indeed always spirits, but they can by no means always be called angels, because they are angels only when something is announced through them. Hence it is said through the Psalmist: 'Who makes spirits his angels' (Ps. 103:4). As if he were saying plainly: he who always has them as spirits also makes them angels when he wills. Those who announce the least things are called angels, and those who announce the highest things archangels. That is why it is not just any angel but the archangel Gabriel who is sent to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:26). For it was fitting that the highest angel should come for this ministry, since he was announcing the highest of all. They are also given individual names for this reason, so that their names may signify what they are capable of in action as well. For it is not that in that holy city, which full knowledge drawn from the vision of almighty God makes perfect, they are allotted proper names because their persons could not be known without names; but when they come to us to perform some ministry, among us they also take names from their ministries.

D. M ichael namque, quia. ut Deus; Gabriel autem, fortitudo Dei; Raphael vero dicitur medicina Dei. Et quoties mira; virtutis aliquid agitur, Michael milli perhibetur, ut ex ipso actu em nomine 1605 detur intelligi quia nullus pOlest facere quod facere præva- 1et Deus. Unde et iae antiquus hostis, qui Deo esse per superbiam similis concupivit, dicens : In cœlum conscendam, super astra cœli exaltabo solium muem, sedebo in monte testamenti, in lateribus Aquilonis, ascendam super altitudinem nubium, similis ero Altis- simo (Isai. XIV, ł3), dum in fine mundi in sua virtute relinquetur extremo supplicio perianendus, cum Mi- chaele archangelo præliaturus esse perhilJeLur, sicut per Joanuem dicitur : Factum eat prœlum cum Mi- chaele archangelo (Apoc. ait, 7), ul qui se ad Dei similitudinem superbus extulerat, per Michaelem pe- remptus discat, quia ad Dei similitudinem per super- biam nullus exsurgat. Ad Mariam quoque Gabriel mittitur (Lucæ J, 26), qui Dei fortitudo nominatur. Illum quippe nuntiare veniebat, qui all debellandas aereas potestates humilis apparere dignatus est. De quo per Psalmistam dicitur : Tollite portas priilcipe. vestras, et elevamini, porlæ æternales, et introibit Rex gloriæ. Quis est iate Rex gloriæ? Dominus (ortis el pa- tens, hominus potens ill prætio (Psal. XXIII, 9, 10). Et rursum : Dominus virtutum ipse est Rex gloriæ (Ibid.). Per Dei ergo fortitudinem puntiandus erat, qui virtutum Dominus, et potens in prælio, a contra potestates acreas ad bella veniebat. Raphael quoque interpretatur, ut diximus, medicina Dei, quia videlicet dum Tobiae oculos quasi per officium curationis tetigit (Tom. XI, 13, seq.), caecitatis ejus tenebras tersit. Qui ergo ad curandum mittitur, dignum videlicet tuit ut Dei medicina vocaretur. Sed quia angelorum nomina interpretando perstrinximus, Nunc superest ut ipsa officiorum vocabula breviter esse- quamur.

9. For Michael means 'Who is like God?', Gabriel 'Strength of God', and Raphael is called 'Medicine of God'. And whenever something of wonderful power is done, Michael is said to be sent, so that from the act itself and from the name it may be understood that no one can do what God has power to do. Hence also that ancient enemy, who through pride desired to be like God, saying: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven, I will sit on the mount of the covenant, on the sides of the north, I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High' (Isa. 14:13-14), when at the end of the world he is left to his own strength, to be destroyed by the final punishment, is declared to be about to fight with the archangel Michael, as it is said through John: 'A battle was fought with the archangel Michael' (Rev. 12:7), so that he who in pride had raised himself to the likeness of God, being destroyed through Michael, may learn that no one rises to the likeness of God through pride. Gabriel too, who is named the Strength of God, is sent to Mary (Luke 1:26). For he was coming to announce him who deigned to appear humble in order to defeat the powers of the air. Of him it is said through the Psalmist: 'Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up, you eternal gates, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle' (Ps. 23:9-10). And again: 'The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory' (ibid.). So he who, as Lord of hosts and mighty in battle, was coming to make war on the powers of the air had to be announced by the Strength of God. Raphael too is interpreted, as we have said, as the Medicine of God, because, when he touched the eyes of Tobias as if in the office of healing (Tob. 11:13ff.), he wiped away the darkness of his blindness. So it was fitting that the one sent to heal should be called the Medicine of God. But since we have touched on the names of the angels by interpreting them, it now remains for us to go briefly through the terms for their offices themselves.

10. Virtutes etenim vocantur illi nimirum spiritus, per quos signa et miracula frequentius fiunt. Potestates etiam vocantur hi qui hoc potentius cæteris in suo ordine perceperunt, ut eorum ditioni virtutes adversae subjectae sint, quorum potestate refrenantur, ne corda hommum tantum tentare prævaleant quantum volunt. Principatus enam vocantur qui ipsis quoque bonis angelorum spiritibus praesunt, qui subjectis aliis dum quæque sunt agenda disponunt, eis ad explenda divina ministeria princi- panlur. Dominationes autem vocantur qui etiam potestates principatunm dissimilitudine aiLa transcendunt. b Nam principari est inter reliquos priorem existere, dominari vero est etiam subjectos quosque possidere. Ea ergo angelorum agmina, quae mira po- tentia præominent, pro eo quod eia cætera ad. obe- diendum subjecta sunt, dominationes vocalllur. Throni quoque illa agmina sunt vocata, quibus ad exercendum judicium semper Deus omnipotens præ- sidet. Quia enim thronos Latino eloquio sedes dicimus, throni Dei dicti sunt IIi qui tanta divinitatis gratia replentur, ut in eis Dommus sedeat, et per eus sua judicia decernat. Unde et per Psałmistam dicitur : Sedes super thronuna, qui judicas e- æquitatem (Psal. IX, 5). Cherubim quoque plenitudo scientiæ dicitur. It sublimiora illA agmina idcirco cherubim vocata sunt, quia tanto perfectiori scientia plena sunt, quanto claritatem Dei vicinius contemplantur; iit, secundum creaturae modum, eo piene omnia sciant, quo visione conditoris sui per meritum dignitatis appropinquant. 1606 Seraphim etiam vocantur illa spirituum sanctorum agmina quæ ex singulari propinquitate conditoris sui incomparabili ardeut nmore. Seraphim namque ardentes vel incendentes vocantur. Quæ, quia i ta Deo conjuncta sunt ut inter hæc et Deum nulli alii spiritus intersint, tanto magis ardent, quanto hunc vicinius vident. Quorum prote- cto flamma amor est, quia quo subtilius claritatem divini tatis ejus aspiciunt, eo validius in cius amore flammescunt.

10. Virtues are indeed the name for those spirits through whom signs and miracles are most often performed. Powers are the name for those who have received this, more powerfully than the others in their order: that the hostile forces are subject to their authority, and are restrained by their power from prevailing to tempt human hearts as much as they wish. Principalities are the name for those who are set over even the good spirits of the angels themselves; while they arrange for those beneath them whatever is to be done, they rule over them for the fulfilling of the divine ministries. Dominions are the name for those who surpass even the powers of the principalities by a lofty difference. For to be a principality is to be first among the rest, but to have dominion is also to possess all who are subject. So those hosts of angels who stand out with wonderful power, because the others are subject to them for obedience, are called dominions. Thrones, too, is the name given to those hosts over whom almighty God always presides to exercise judgement. For since in Latin speech we call thrones 'seats', those are called the thrones of God who are filled with such grace of divinity that the Lord sits in them and through them decrees his judgements. Hence it is said through the Psalmist: 'You sit upon the throne, you who judge equity' (Ps. 9:5). Cherubim, too, means fullness of knowledge. And those more sublime hosts are called cherubim for this reason, that they are filled with a knowledge the more perfect as they contemplate the brightness of God more nearly; so that, within the measure of a creature, they know all things the more fully the nearer they draw, by the merit of their rank, to the vision of their creator. Seraphim, too, is the name for those hosts of holy spirits who, from their singular nearness to their creator, burn with an incomparable love. For seraphim means 'burning' or 'kindling'. Because they are so joined to God that no other spirits come between them and God, they burn the more, the more nearly they see him. Their flame, indeed, is love, because the more finely they gaze upon the brightness of his divinity, the more strongly they blaze in love of him.

12. Sed hæc, fratres charissimi, me loquente, in- trorsus vos ad vosmetipsos reducite , secretorum vestrorum merita cogitationesque discutite. videte si quid jam boni vobiscum intus agitis, videte si in numero horum agminum, quæ breviter tangendo perstrinximus, sortem vestrae vocationis invenitis. Væ autem animæ quæ in se de iris bonis qu;e eDumera- vimus minime aliquid recognoscit, eique adhuc væ deterius imminet, si et privatam se donis inteHi- gir, et nequaquam gemit. Quisquis ergo talis est, fratres mei, gemendus est valde, quia non gemit. Pensemus ergo accepta electorum munera, tat virtute qua possumus ad amorem tantae sortis anhele- mus. Qui in se donorum gratiam minime recogno* scit gemat. Qui vero in se minora cognoscit, aliis majora non iuvhJeat, quia et supernae illæ distinctiones beatorum spirituum ila sunt conditæ, ut aliae aliis sint prælatæ. Fertur vero Dionysius . Areopagita, anti- filiUS videlicet et venerabilis Pater, dicere (De Cæl. Hierarch. cap. 7. 9, 13) quod ex minoribus angelorum agminibus foras ad explendum ministerium vel visibilitpr vel invisibiliter miunntur, scilicet quia ad humana solatia ut angeli ant archangeli veniunt. Nam s"pcriora illa agmina ab intimis nunquam recedunt, quoniam ea quae præeminent usum exterioris mi- nisterii nequaquam habent. Cui rei illud videtur esse contrarium quod Isaias dicit : Et volavit ad me unus de seraphim, et in manu ejus calculus, quem forcipe tulerat de altari, et letigit os meum (Isai. VI, 6, 7). Sed 1608 in hac prophetæ sententia r vult intelligi quia ii spiritus qui mittuntur eorum vocabulum percipiunt quorum officium gerunt. Qui enim, ut peccata locutionis incendat, de altari angelus carbonem portat, seraphim vocatur, quod incendium dicitur. Huic autem sensui et illud creditur non inconvenienter opitulari, quod per Danielem dicitur : Millia millium ministrabant eit et decies millie, centena millia assi- stebant ei (Dan, VII, 10). Aliud namque est ministrare, aliud assistere, quia hi administrant heo, qui et ad nos nuntiando exeunt; assistunt vero qui sic contemplatione intima Perfruuntur, ut ad explenda foras opera minime mittantur.

12. But, dearest brothers, while I speak, turn back inwardly to yourselves, and examine the merits and thoughts of your inner secrets. See whether you are already doing any good within yourselves; see whether you find the lot of your calling in the number of these hosts which we have briefly touched upon. But woe to the soul that recognises in itself nothing at all of these goods which we have listed; and a worse woe still hangs over it if it both understands that it is deprived of these gifts and does not groan at all. Whoever is such, my brothers, is greatly to be groaned over, because he does not groan. Let us therefore weigh the gifts the elect have received, and with what strength we can, let us pant for the love of so great a lot. Let him who recognises no grace of gifts in himself groan. But let him who recognises lesser gifts in himself not envy others the greater, because those heavenly distinctions of the blessed spirits are so made that some are set above others. Dionysius the Areopagite, an ancient and venerable Father, is reported to say (De Cael. Hier. ch. 7, 9, 13) that it is from the lesser hosts of angels that spirits are sent out, visibly or invisibly, to fulfil a ministry, namely because they come to the comfort of human beings as angels or archangels. For those higher hosts never withdraw from the innermost, since those that are pre-eminent have no use of outward ministry. Against this seems to be what Isaiah says: 'And one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar, and he touched my mouth' (Isa. 6:6-7). But in this saying of the prophet he wants it understood that the spirits who are sent take the name of those whose office they perform. For the angel who carries a coal from the altar to burn away the sins of speech is called seraphim, which means 'burning'. And this sense is believed to be supported, not unfittingly, by what is said through Daniel as well: 'Thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him' (Dan. 7:10). For to minister is one thing, to stand before is another, since those minister to God who also go out to us with messages, while those stand before him who so enjoy inward contemplation that they are not sent out at all to carry out outward works.