Article 1

In the first article, the question is raised whether the angels are the movers of the celestial bodies.

I have thought that the best way of responding to this is to say that it is not only proved by the philosophers in many ways but also clearly asserted by the holy doctors. For Augustine says in the third book of On the Trinity: as more dense and lower bodies are ruled in a certain order by more subtle and and higher bodies, so all bodies are ruled by the rational spirit of life. (See De Trinitate, bk. 3, ch. 4 # 9 and Summa Theologiae, I, q. 103 a. 6 s.c.) Also, in the book on the eighty-three questions, he says, every visible thing in this world has an angelic power placed over it. (See, q. 79 of that work and also Summa Theologiae, I, q. 110 a. 1 ad 3.) Gregory also says in the fourth book of the Dialogues: nothing in this visible world is able to be arranged except by an invisible creature. (See, Bk. IV, n. 6.)