Chapter IV. On the manner in which the Holy Angels are to be considered

Having done with these preliminary questions, let us now direct our consideration to " that Jerusalem which is above, and which is our mother " (Gal. iv. 26) ; and by the three ways mentioned in the preceding chapter let us try with all caution and vigilance to search out the unsearchable — that is to say, so far as v it is lawful, or rather, so far as it shall be given us. And in the first place we know from the Scriptures and we hold on faith that the heavenly city is peopled by finite spirits, powerful, glorious, and blissful, distinct in their personalities, arranged in the order of dignity, preserving always the places assigned them in the beginning, perfect in their various species, clothed with ethereal bodies, endowed with immortal life, impassible not by creation but by free endowment, that is to say, not by nature but by grace, pure in mind, benevolent in disposition, fervent in piety, inviolate in chastity, united in sentiment, established in peace, */ deriving their existence from the will of God and entirely devoted to the divine praise and service. However, with regard to the angelic bodies, there are some who doubt not only about their composition, but even as to whether they exist at all. Consequently, I should not quarrel with him who should maintain that this is a question not of faith, but of opinion. Furthermore, that the angels are endowed with intelligence, we hold, not as something revealed by faith, nor yet as a mere matter of opinion, but with the certainty of understanding : because it is evident to our reason that they cannot be devoid of intelligence and at the same time enjoy the possession of God.f The names of some of them also are known to us " by hearing," from which we can form some kind of judgment or conjecture concerning the various offices, merits, dignities, and orders </ of these blessed spirits, even though such knowledge has not itself been clearly communicated to mortal hearing. But that which is not known through hearing f The Saint does not deny it to be of faith that the angels are endowed with intelligence ; he merely affirms that this truth has not been revealed in itself, but in another which necessarily implies it, and from which it can be deduced by an immediate inference of the reason, So Suarez, de Ange.lis, 1. i. c. i. n. 2. — (Translator )

is manifestly not of faith, since " faith cometh by hearing " (Rom. x. 17). Therefore, whatever I shall have to say about questions of this kind must be understood as simply an expression of opinion. And why, it may be asked, have the names of the inhabitants of heaven .been revealed to us at all, unless we are permitted, without prejudice to faith, to form our own conclusions concerning the meaning of the names ? Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim — these are the names of the heavenly choirs. But what do these names signify ? Surely we are not to imagine that there is no difference, except in name, between those spirits, for instance, who are called simply Angels and those denominated Archangels ? It is necessary therefore to explain what is the distinction of degrees which appears to correspond to this distinction of appellatives.

Let us suppose, then (unless thou hast something more plausible to suggest), that the name of Angels is given to those heavenly spirits who, as we believe, are appointed to watch over men, one for each, " being sent," as the Apostle says, " to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation " (Heb. i. 14). It is of the same the Lord speaks where He tells us that the Angels always see the Face of His Father (Matt, xviii. 10). Let us suppose that next above the Angels are the Archangels, who, as the confidants of the more secret counsels of God, are only sent to earth on embassies of great and special importance. Thus we read (Luke i. 26) how the glorious

Archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary, on a mission the most momentous that can be conceived. , v-^ Over these let us place the Virtues, who by their will or agency, work signs and prodigies either in the elements or with their concurrence, and exhibit the same for the admonition of mortals. And perhaps this is the reason why the Lord in the Gospel, after saying that " there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars," added almost immediately, " For the Virtues (virtu tes) of heaven shall be moved " (Luke xxi. 25, 26), as if He would imply that these are the spirits by whom the signs are wrought. Let us suppose that next to the Virtues in order of dignity come the Powers, by whose might the powers of darkness are subdued and " the prince of the power of this air " (Ephes. ii. 2) held in check, so that his malignity cannot hurt us as much as he desires, or do us any evil but such as may be turned to our advantage. Over the Powers are placed the Principalities, who by their wisdom and authority establish, govern, limit, V transfer, break up, or alter every principality that exists upon the earth.

Let us believe that the Dominations are so far exalted above each of the preceding choirs that, with respect to them, these latter are all " ministering spirits," and that it is with dependence on them, as on true overlords, are exercised the governing authority of / the Principalities, the protectorate of the Powers, the operations of the Virtues, the illuminating office of the Archangels, and the guardianship and providence of the Angels. As to the Thrones, we may conjecture that they are elevated above the Dominations by an equally wide interval, and owe their name to the fact that they are seated : and the reason of their being seated is that the Lord is seated upon them. For manifestly He could not sit upon them unless they were themselves seated. Thou mayest inquire what are we to understand by this sitting of the Thrones. In my opinion, it signifies the most perfect tranquillity, the most placid serenity, and a " peace which surpasseth all understanding " (Philipp. iv. 6). For such is He Who is seated upon the Thrones, the Lord God of Sabaoth, judging all things with tranquillity, most placid, most serene, most peaceful. And as He is in Himself so has He made those blessed spirits whereupon He vouchsafes to sit. Still higher may we suppose the Cherubim, who drink from the very fount of wisdom, even from the mouth of the Most High, and communicate the waters of knowledge to all the other inhabitants of heaven. And perhaps it is to this the Prophet alludes where he says that " the stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful" (Ps. xlv. 5). With regard to the Seraphim, finally, let us believe that they are celestial spirits wholly inflamed with divine love, whose office it is to enkindle the same fire in all their fellow-citizens, so that each of them all may be a burning and a shining light (John v. 35), burning with charity, shining with knowledge. *

O Eugenius, how good it is for us to be here (Matt. xvii. 4) ! But how much happier will be our lot if ever we are allowed to follow hither with our whole being whither wc have already arrived in a part of ourselves ! Already, I say, we have ascended in spirit to the heavenly Jerusalem, yet not with our whole spirit, but only with a part, yea, and with an exceedingly small part. For our affections lie grovelling on the earth, kept down by the weight of this corporeal mass and by a multitude of carnal appetites, so that it is only our consideration, weak and dry and delicate as it is, that can as yet mount upward, anticipating, so to speak, all our oiher powers. And nevertheless even such a glimpse of the holy city as is now permitted us in this way is enough to make us cry out with the Psalmist, " I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of Thy house, and the place where Th}r glory dwelleth " (Ps. xxv. 8). What, then, should it be if our whole soul, concentrating herself in herself and recalling her manifold affections from the various objects by which, they are still held captive, whilst she fears what she should not fear and loves things unworthy, vainly grieves and more vainly rejoices: what should it be, I say, if, with all her energies thus collected and with the fullest freedom, she were to take her heaven-ward flight and to soar aloft under the impulse of the Spirit, her motion rendered smooth and easy by the unction of grace ? And when she proceeded to explore the luminous mansions above, to examine with pious curiosity even Abraham's Bosom, and to contemplate the souls of the martyrs reposing under the mystical altar (Apoc. vi. 9) — whatever that may be — already clad in the first robe and most patiently awaiting the second : should she not then even with much greater i6o ON CONSIDERATION fervour cry out with the Royal Prophet, " One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after : that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may see the will * of the Lord and may visit His temple " (Ps. xxvi. 4) ? For those who enter that temple, are they not permitted to behold there the very Heart of God ? Shall we not there be given to " prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God " (Rom. xii. 2), " good in itself, acceptable in its effects, and more acceptable to such as enjoy these effects, perfect to the perfect and to those that seek for nothing outside it ? There shall be exposed to our view the bowels of divine mercy. There God will make manifest to us His " thoughts of peace " (Jer. xxix. 11), and the riches of His salvation (Is. xxxiii. 6), and the mysteries of His goodwill, and the secrets of His benignity, which are now veiled to our mortal eyes and objects of suspicion even to the elect. Such concealment of the divine counsels is necessary for us at present, lest we should cease to fear before we have attained the capacity for perfect love.

There also we shall behold exhibited in the spirits called the Seraphim how He loves, Who must always be Himself the only motive of His loving, and Who hateth beneath which the souls of the martyrs are said to repose, he understands to be the Sacred Humanity. As for the robes here referred to, the first, already possessed, is the glory of the soul j the second is the glory destined for the body at the general Resurrection. Cf. St. Bernard's Sermons for the Seasons and Principal Festivals of the Year, vol. i. p. 323 (Mount Melleray Translation) . — (Translator.)

_in many Latin Codices until the recension made at the close of the sixteenth century by the authority of Sixtus V. and

Clement VII I., when the reading, " ut videam voluptatem,"

was made universal. — (Translator.)

none of the things that He hath made (Wisdom xi. 25) ; how He fosters, how He advances, how He embraces those whom He has created to be saved ; how the fire of His charity consumes in His elect the sins of their youth and the chaff of their ignorances, and thus renders them entirely pure and most worthy of His love. We shall see in the Cherubim, whose name signifies fulness of knowledge, that " the Lord is a God of all knowledge " (1 Kings ii. 3) ; Who alone of all beings is ignorant of naught but ignorance ; Who is all Light admitting no fellowship with darkness ; Who is all Eye, and an Eye Which can never be deceived because It is always open ; Who is not dependent on any light outside Himself to enable Him to see, being not only the Eye Which sees but also the Light whereby It sees. In the Thrones we shall perceive how little cause innocence has to be afraid of the Judge Who is seated upon them, and Who is as unwilling to circumvent as He is incapable of being circumvented : because namely, He is infinite Love and infinite Wisdom. Neither is the sitting without its significance, for it symbolises the tranquillity of His judgments. " Let my judgment come forth from Thy countenance " (Ps. xvi. 2), 0 Lord, I pray Thee, in Whom love is ever abiding, to Whom error and perturbation have no access. The Dominations will show us how great is the majesty of the Lord Who governs by His sole will,-/ and Whose empire knows no other bounds than those of universality and eternity. In the Principalities it shall be given us to contemplate that Principle from Which all being proceeds and on Which the whole universe depends and turns as a door on its hinges. We shall behold in the Powers how potently the Supreme Ruler of all protects those whom He governs, restraining and beating off the opposing powers. In the Virtues shall be made manifest to us that Divine Virtue which is equally present everywhere, conserving all things in existence, vivifying, effectual, invisible and motionless,yet at the same time beneficently moving and firmly holding everything that is : Whose less familiar effects amongst mortal creatures we are accustomed to call miracles or prodigies. Lastly, we shall see and admire in the Angels and Archangels the truth and fulfilment of that which is written, " For He hath care of you " (i Peter v. 7), He Who does not cease to gladden us with the visits of princes so great and so holy, to enlighten us with their instructions, to admonish us with their suggestions, and to console us with their assiduous ministrations.