9 ranks of angels in Orthodoxy. What is the hierarchy of angels in Christianity? Analogs in other traditions

The word "Angel" is Greek, which means a messenger. This name was given to the Angels from their service to the salvation of the human race, for which they are used by the All-good God and that they perform with holy zeal and love. The Apostle Paul said: "Isn't it all the essence of the ministry dusi, we send to ministry for those who want to inherit salvation?" (Heb. 1:14).
So "the Angel Gabriel was sent quickly from God to the city of Galilee, whose name is Nazareth" (Luke 1:26) to the Blessed Virgin Mary to announce to Her that She is chosen to be the Mother of the Word of God, accepting humanity for the redemption of mankind. Thus, the Angel of the Lord at night opened the doors of the dungeon, into which the twelve apostles were imprisoned by the envious Jews, and, bringing them out, said; “Go, and become more a human being in the church speak all the words of this life” (Acts 5:20), that is, the teaching of Christ, which is life. Another time, the Angel led the Apostle Peter out of the dungeon, who had been thrown there by the wicked King Herod, who had already killed the Apostle James Zebedee and who wanted to amuse the deicidal people of the Jews with a second execution that was pleasant for him. Miraculously rescued from prison, the Apostle, convinced that he saw not a vision, but the deed itself, said: “Now we truly believe that God sent His Angel, and they will take me out of the hand of Herod and from all the hopes of the people of the Jews” (Acts 12:11) ... However, the ministry of the Angels is not only in helping the salvation of the human race: but from this ministry they received their name among men, and this name was given to them by the Holy Spirit in Holy Scripture.

The time of the creation of the Angels is not clearly indicated in the Holy Scriptures; but, according to the teaching generally accepted by the Holy Church, the creation of Angels preceded the creation of the material world and man.

Angels are created from nothing... Suddenly seeing himself created in wonderful grace and bliss; how grateful they felt, reverence and love for the Creator, who gave them together being and spiritual pleasure! Contemplation and praise of the Creator became their continuous occupation. The Lord Himself said about them: “When the stars were created, praising Me with a great voice, thou art My Angels” (Job 38: 7). These words of Holy Scripture clearly prove that the Angels were created before the world we see and, being present at its creation, they glorified the wisdom and power of the Creator. They were created, like the visible world, by the Word of God: “By that,” says the holy Apostle Paul, “everything was created, even to heaven and even to earth, visible and invisible, even as thrones, as well as dominion, and as soon as power: all kinds By this and about Him you give in ”(Col. 1:16).

Here the Apostle, under the name of thrones, dominions, principles and powers, means the various ranks of the Angels. The Holy Church recognizes three such rites; each rank, or hierarchy, consists of three ranks.

The first hierarchy is made up of Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones; the second - Dominance, Strength and Power; the third - Beginnings, Archangels and Angels.

The teaching about this division of Angels was set forth by Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, a disciple of the holy Apostle Paul, who, as we have seen, also names certain ranks in his writings. Those closest to the Throne of God are the six-winged Seraphim, as Saint Isaiah the prophet saw in his vision. “Videh,” he says, “sitting on the throne of the Lord is exalted and exalted, and filled the house of His glory. And Seraphimi stood around Him, six shouted to one, and six shouted to another: and two for the veil of his face, two for the veil of his feet, and two for the summer. And I cry out to one another and say: holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: fill the whole earth with His glory ”(Isa. 6: 1-3).

According to the Seraphim, the God-wise, many-read Cherubim stand before the Throne of God, then the Thrones and, in order, other Angelic orders. Angels stand before the Throne of God with great reverent fear, which is poured out in them by the incomprehensible majesty of the Divine, not with the fear that penitent sinners feel and which will be taken away by love, but with fear that remains for centuries and constitutes one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit - the fear that God is terrible to all those around him. From the incessant contemplation of the immeasurable majesty of God, they are in constant blissful ecstasy and ecstasy and express it with incessant praise. They are aflame with love for God and in self-forgetfulness, in which they exist in God, and no longer in themselves, find inexhaustible and endless pleasure. According to their ranks, they are endowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of wisdom and reason. Spirit of advice and strength. By the Spirit of the Fear of God.

This variety of spiritual gifts and different degrees of perfection by no means produce competition or envy in the Holy Angels: no! They have one will, as Saint Arsenius the Great said, and they are all filled with gracious consolation in God and do not feel any lack. According to this grace-filled unity of will, the Holy Angels of the lower ranks with love and zeal show obedience to the Angels of the higher ranks, knowing that this obedience is obedience to the will of God. “We clearly see,” says Saint Demetrius of Rostov, “in the book of the Prophet Zechariah, that while the Angel was talking with the Prophet, another Angel came out to meet this Angel, commanding him to go to the Prophet and announce what was to be done with Jerusalem. Also in Daniel's prophecy we read that the Angel commands the Angel to interpret the vision to the Prophet. "

In general, all the Angels are sometimes called the Heavenly Forces and the Heavenly Host. The Leader of the Heavenly Host is the Archangel Michael, who belongs to the seven spirits that stand before God. These seven Angels are: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Salafiel, Uriel, Jehudiel and Barachiel: These seven spirits are sometimes called Angels, sometimes Archangels; Saint Demetrius of Rostov reckons them to the rank of Seraphim.

Angels were created in the image and likeness of God, just as man was subsequently created.

The image of God, as in man, is contained in the mind, from which is born, and in which thought is contained, and from which the spirit emanates, which promotes thought and revives it. This image, like the Prototype, is invisible, just as it is invisible in humans.

He rules over the whole being in the Angel as well as in man. Angels are creatures limited by time and space, therefore, having their own appearance. Only nothing and an infinite being can be formless: an infinite being is therefore formless because, having no limit in any direction, it cannot have any outline; and nothing is formless as having no being and no properties. On the contrary, all beings are limited, the greatest and the smallest, however subtle, have their limits. These limits, or ends of the being, constitute its outline, and where the outline is, there is certainly a view, even if we did not see it with our rough eyes. We do not see the limit of gases and most of the vapors, but these limits certainly exist, because gases and vapors cannot occupy an infinite space, they occupy a certain space, corresponding to their elasticity, that is, the ability to expand and contract.

God alone is visionless, as an infinite being. In relation to us, Angels are called incorporeal and spirits. But we, humans, in our state of decline, can in no way be taken as the basis for drawing up correct concepts of the visible and invisible world. We are not what we were created by; and again renewed by repentance, we do not become what we are in the ordinary passionate state. We are a fickle and wrong yardstick. But it is precisely by this measure that Angels are called incorporeal, immaterial, spirits. ( From the book of St. Ignatius Brianchinov )

Angels in Scripture

What can we say about Angels? What are our literary sources? Naturally, Holy Scripture. The word "Angel" itself is ours, Russian, in fact, not a Russian word at all, but the Greek "ἄγγελο,", which literally means "messenger, messenger". But this is also not the original form of this word, but a literal translation of the Hebrew word מלאך "malach". This word also means “messenger, messenger” and comes from the Hebrew root which means the verb “to send”. What conclusion can we draw from this? The word "Angel" does not describe to us the nature of these creatures. What kind of spirits are these, what their nature is, we cannot say. We can only say about their ministry that they are "ministering spirits."

In Hebrew, instead of the word "Angels", the word "malachim" is used. If you read the Old Testament in Hebrew, this word will be used very often. Moreover, the word "malachim" as "message" can be used in two ways. On the one hand, this is the message of God as such, impersonal, addressed to man, on the other hand, the word "malach" can denote a living being, the spirit that conveys this message.

In the Holy Scriptures, among other things, the word "Angel" can be used not only for disembodied spirits, but also for prophets. Before you is the icon "John the Forerunner Angel of the Desert". It is no coincidence that John the Baptist is depicted with wings, since here there is a direct reference to the text of the Gospel of Matthew (11:10), which quotes an even more ancient text (Malachi 3: 1): “For he is the one about which it is written: behold, I send My Angel is before You, who will prepare Your way before You. " Here you are, John the Baptist is called “Angel, the messenger”.

Another word that is used to refer to heavenly spirits is אלוהים "Elohim". If you open the first Book of Scripture, the Book of Genesis, in Hebrew, in the first chapter, the first stanza: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” the word “Elohim” will be used. The word "Elohim" will be used in the Bible to denote God, along with "Yahweh", and to denote Angels.

Angels in the Old Testament

An important role in the formation of the doctrine of angels was played by the ancient Jewish apocrypha, which is called the "Book of Enoch". This is a work of the III-II century BC. In particular, the apostle Jude refers to this book in his epistle (verse 14), quoting it: “About them Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them, saying:“ Behold, the Lord comes with thousands of His holy angels… ”. The same text is mentioned by ancient writers, Origen, Tertullian, and until the late Middle Ages, the Book of Enoch was very popular. But what is interesting, its text was unknown to us until the 18th century. It has survived in full only in the canon of the Ethiopian Bible, only in the sacred language of gyiz. By the way, Ethiopians believe that the original language of this book was originally the language of gyiz. As a reminder, this is the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Church.

Angels in the New Testament

There are also many references to angels in the New Testament. Archangel Gabriel Preaching the Gospel

Zechariah about the coming birth of John the Baptist, preaching to the Virgin Mary about the coming birth of the Savior of the world from Her. And also the Resurrection, Ascension and most other events of the Sacred history take place in the presence of Angels. In the Book of Acts, we also meet with Angels, for example, an Angel leads Peter out of prison. We will talk about this later. So, in the New Testament, in addition to mentioning the very word "Angel", for the first time we meet the mention of the Archangels. Archangel in both Latin and Greek means "chief of the Angels." We will also talk about them a little later. In addition, the Apostle Paul, in the Epistles to the Romans, to the Ephesians and to the Colossians, also mentions such Heavenly Powers as Thrones, Dominions, Beginnings, Authorities and Powers.

Angelic world

We also know about the angelic world that there was a fall of part of the angels. We can read the details about this only in the Apocrypha. Since the details of the fall of part of the angelic world are not directly related to the work of our salvation, in the Holy Scriptures we practically will not find any mention of this. The Apostle Jude says (1: 6): "The God of the angels, who did not retain their dignity, but left their dwelling place, keeps in eternal bonds, under darkness for the judgment of the Great Day." The Lord testifies in the Gospel of Luke (10:18) that “He (the Lord) saw Satan falling from heaven like lightning”. It is believed that the fall of the angels did not happen simultaneously, that at first Dennitsa fell and carried countless angels with him. There is a legend that the end of the world will come when the number of the righteous will fill the number of angels who have fallen away. By the way, the holy fathers suggest that even the fallen angels retained their hierarchy, due to the fact that the hierarchy originally existed in the angelic world. The Holy Scripture speaks of the world of evil spirits as a kingdom headed by Satan, which translates as “opposing”, this is not a personal name.

The nature of angels

In Holy Scripture, angels appear to us as intelligent and free beings, if they were not free beings, then some of the angels would not have fallen away from the Lord in due time, this was their free will. John Damascene gives the following definition of an angel: "An angel is a rational nature, endowed with intelligence and free will." The same John Damascene testifies to the incomprehensibility of the angelic nature: "The Creator alone knows the form and definition of this (angelic) essence." But what we can say for sure about them is that they are spiritual and incorporeal. “The Spirit has no flesh and bones,” we read in the Gospel of Luke (24:39). According to the interpretation of the holy fathers, the sensual images in which the Angels appear (numerous phenomena are described in the Holy History, in the Old and New Testaments) are not a reflection of their nature, but only their temporary state.

Blessed Theodorite explains: “we know that the nature of angels is incorporeal; they take on images, conforming to the benefit of those who see, "so that the one looking at them would not be afraid, but at the same time understand that they are not an ordinary person, but really the messenger of the Lord. The Monk John Damascene says: "Angels, appearing, according to the will of God, to worthy people, are not what they are in themselves, but are transformed in accordance with how the beholders can see them."

About the relationship of Angels to space and time, we can also say that they, in the words of John Damascene, “are not held by walls, doors, locks, or seals ... and stay in places comprehended only by the mind”. Numerous testimonies from both Holy Scripture and later descriptions of miracles associated with angels tell us that angels instantly move from one point of the universe to another, and nothing holds them back. Accordingly, they have more freedom than humans in terms of space and time.

The perfection of the Angelic nature is expressed in their special approach to God. They are endowed with the highest knowledge, intelligence, but not omniscient like the Lord God. Only part of the knowledge that they possess is open to the angels, and thanks to which, according to the apocryphal texts, they rule the universe. The holy fathers also raise the question of the relationship between an angel and a man: who is more worthy in his calling? There is a double point of view on this score. On the one hand, we can say that the Angel is undoubtedly more majestic and his nature is more perfect than human nature. On the other hand, many holy fathers assert that the Angels are belittled before man by the fact that they, unlike him, do not have the ability to create. In this, man is even higher than the Angels, and more like God.

God is the Creator, and man can be a creator, but Angels are not creators. And on this principle many holy fathers insist. John Damascene says about the Lord: "The Creator of Angels, who brought them from the one into being and created them in His own image" and denounces those who "call the angels creators of whatever essence ... For ... Angels are not creators."

We can only say about the number of angels that it is limited, but very large. The prophet Daniel (7:10) describes the angelic host as “thousands of thousands and darkness of those” (these are millions and tens of millions). Cyril of Jerusalem wrote about it this way: “Imagine people, from Adam to this day: there are many of them, but they are still small, in comparison with the Angels, which are more. There are ninety-nine sheep; and the human race is only one sheep. " Here Cyril of Jerusalem refers us to the parable told by the Lord that the good shepherd for the sake of one lost sheep leaves 99 sheep, and goes in search of it in order to carry the lost sheep on his shoulders and return it to the flock. In this the holy fathers from ancient times saw the image of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, incarnating, leaves the perfect world, the Divine world, leaves the Angelic world faithful to Him and descends after one fallen sheep - in order to save humanity. Before you is the Sucevitsa monastery in Romania, the painting on the outer wall of the temple, which depicts the Ladder of John Climacus. This is a visual attempt by the artist to depict the countless heavenly forces.

What is the ministry of angels? This, naturally, is service to God, praise of His greatness and fulfillment of His will, since angels are ministering spirits and their purpose is to serve God. If we remember the book of the prophet Isaiah (6: 2-3), it speaks of his vision of the Lord sitting on the throne, and the seraphim stood before the throne, constantly singing a song to God: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole Earth is full of His Glory! " Constant, unceasing, eternal praise. Similar images are found in the book of Revelation, which speaks of animals, of the tetramorph, which also serves before the throne of God. “The angels contemplate God ... and have this food,” says John of Damascus. We read examples of the service of Angels to God as an instrument of God's providence in relation to the visible world and man in the Holy Scriptures. This is the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the salvation of Lot with his daughters, whom the Angels lead out of the destroyed city. This is Jacob's dream, when Jacob dreams of a ladder along which numerous Angels ascend and descend from heaven. This is Jacob's battle with the Angel in the night. An angel frees the apostle Peter from prison.

All this is a manifestation of the ministry of Angels and their fulfillment of the will of God. One of the types of indirect ministry of angels to God can be the ministry of Guardian Angels. After baptism, each person is assigned a Guardian Angel, who must lead the soul of this person to salvation. This also manifests the Providence of God, which means this is one of the options for the ministry of angels to God. In ancient times, it was believed that guardian angels also have cities, kingdoms, and peoples. In particular, the Archangel Michael was considered the patron saint of the Jewish people. By the way, the Holy Scriptures mention the Guardian Angels of private persons in the Gospel of Matthew (18:10): “Look, do not despise any of these little ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. " When the Angel leads Peter out of prison, the apostle comes to the house where the Christian congregation is located, stands at the door and knocks. The maid, seeing him, went and said that it was Peter, but they did not believe her, deciding that it was the Angel of Peter, and not Peter himself.

How angels are depicted

The classic vestment of an angel is a chiton, himation (a cloak thrown over a chiton). Attributes are wings, as a symbol of speed, lightning speed of action. A ribbon in the hair, which in our tradition is called toroki or rumors. A wand, a sphere or a globe, or a mirror (differently called) is always present. Since the angels are the leaders of the heavenly host, since they are the guardians of the throne of the Lord, they are often depicted in court robes.

Angelic ranks

From the Holy Scriptures it follows that there are various orders of angels. The Holy Scriptures mention 9 Angelic ranks.

Seraphim

Of all the orders of heaven, Seraphim are the closest to God; they are the first participants in divine bliss, the first shine with the light of glorious divine glory. And what amazes them most, amazes them in God, is His infinite, eternal, immeasurable, unsearchable love. They in all their power, in all the depths we do not understand, perceive, feel God precisely as Love, through this they approach the very doors, to the very Holy of Holies of that “unapproachable Light” in which God lives (1 Tim. 6:16 ), through this entering into the most intimate, most sincere communion with God, for God Himself is Love: “God of love is” (1 John 4: 8).
Have you ever looked at the sea? You look, you look at its boundless distance, at its boundless breadth, you think about its bottomless depth, and… the thought is lost, the heart stops, the whole being is filled with some kind of sacred trembling and horror; prostrate down, want to close before the clearly felt, boundless majesty of God, reflected by the vastness of the sea. Here is some, albeit the faintest, semblance, a barely noticeable, subtle shadow of what the Seraphim are experiencing, constantly contemplating the immeasurable, unsearchable sea of \u200b\u200bDivine love.
God-Love is fire consuming, and the Seraphim, constantly touching this fiery Divine Love, are filled with the fire of the Divine mainly before all other ranks. Seraphim - and the word itself means: fiery, fiery. Fiery Divine Love, by the inexplicability of His mercy, the immensity of His indulgence towards 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 to indescribable sacred trembling, plunges them into horror, makes everyone shudder their essence. They cannot bear this great Love. They cover their faces with two wings, their legs with two wings, and with two they fly, in fear and trembling, in the deepest reverence, singing, crying, crying and saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts!"

Grieving themselves with love for God, the six-winged Seraphim ignite the fire of this love in the hearts of others, cleansing the soul with divine fire, filling its strength and strength, inspiring to preach - to burn the hearts of people with a verb. So, when the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, seeing the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, surrounded by the Seraphim, began to lament over his impurity, exclaiming: “Oh, damn you! For I am a man with unclean lips ... - and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! .. Then, - says the prophet himself. One of the Seraphim flew to me, and in his hand he had a burning coal, which he took with tongs from the altar, and touched my mouth and said: Behold, I will touch this with your mouth, and he will take away your iniquity and cleanse your sins ”(Is. 6: 5-7).

Cherubim

If for the Seraphim God appears as flaming Love, for the Cherubim God will take out the luminous Wisdom. Cherubim incessantly delve into the divine mind, praise it, sing it in their songs, contemplate the divine secrets, penetrate them with trepidation. That is why, according to the testimony of the Word of God, in the Old Testament the Cherubim are depicted as perching over the Ark of the Covenant.
“And make,” the Lord said to Moses, “of gold, two Cherubim ... Make them on both ends of the cover (of the Ark). Make one Cherubim on one side, and another Cherubim on the other side ... And there will be Cherubim with outstretched wings, covering the cover with their wings, and their faces will be towards each other, the faces of the Cherubim will be on the cover ”(Ex. 25: 18-20) ...
Wonderful image! So it is in heaven: Cherubims gaze with tenderness, with fear at the Divine Wisdom, investigate it, learn in 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 every daring inquisitiveness, every proud gaze at the Reason of God is immediately cut off by them with a fiery sword.
Remember the fall of Adam: the ancestors, contrary to the commandment of God, boldly approached the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, took pride in their minds, wanted to know everything like God; they set out to tear off the veil that hides the secrets of Divine Wisdom. And, look, at once one of the guardians-keepers of these secrets descends from heaven, one of the servants of God's Wisdom - the Cherubim, with a fiery turning sword, drives out the ancestors from Paradise. So great is the jealousy of the Cherubim, so strict are they towards those who boldly attempt to penetrate the unknown mysteries of heaven! Be afraid to test with your mind what you need to believe!
If, according to St. Basil the Great, “one herb or one blade of grass is enough to occupy our whole thought by considering the art with which it was produced,” then what to say about the abyss of wisdom that is open to the Cherubim? The Wisdom of God, as imprinted in a mirror in the visible world, the Wisdom of God in all the construction of our redemption, is all "the many different Wisdom of God, ... in secret, in secret, wherefore God present forever to our glory" (Eph. 3:10; 1 Cor. 2: 7) ...

Thrones

You, of course, know what a throne is, with what meaning is this word often used in our country? They say, for example, "The Tsar's Throne" or "The Tsar's Throne", "The Tsar spoke from the height of the Throne." They all want to show the dignity, the greatness of the king.
The throne, therefore, is the personification of royal greatness, royal dignity. So in heaven there are also Thrones, not our material, soulless, made of gold, silver, bone or wood and serving only as symbols, but rational Thrones, living bearers of the greatness of God, the glory of God. The thrones, mainly before all the ranks of the angels, feel and contemplate God as the King of Glory, the King of the entire universe, the King who does justice and righteousness, the King of Kings as “Great, Mighty and Terrible God” (Deut. 10:17). "Lord, Lord, who is like you?" (Ps. 34:10) ... “Who is like You in Bozeh. Lord, who is like you: glorified in the saints, wondrous in glory ”(Ex. 15:11). “Great is the Lord, and exceedingly praised, and His greatness has no end” (Psalm 144: 3) ... “Great and have no end, high and immeasurable” (Var. 3:25)! All these hymns to the greatness of God, in all their fullness, depth and truth, are understandable and accessible only to the Thrones.
Thrones not only feel and sing the greatness of God, but they themselves are filled with this greatness and glory, and give others to feel it, pour, as it were, into the hearts of men, overwhelming them themselves with waves of greatness and divine glory.
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, the blaze of lightning, wonderful views of nature, high mountains, wild rocks, divine services in some magnificent large temple - everything it often captures the soul so much, strikes the strings of the heart so that a person is ready to compose and sing praise psalms and songs; before the perceived majesty of God disappears, is lost, falls down. Know, beloved, such holy moments of a clear sensation of the greatness of God are not without the influence of the Thrones. It is they who, as it were, add us to their mood, throw our sparkles into our hearts.

Domination

God is called Lord because He cares about the world He created, provides for it, there is a Supreme Owner of it. “He,” says Blessed Theodorite, “is both a shipbuilder and a gardener himself, who has grown substance. He created the substance and built the ship, and constantly controls its helm. " “From the shepherd,” St. Ephraim the Syrian - the flock depends, and everything that grows on the earth depends on God. In the will of the farmer - the separation of wheat from thorns, in the will of God - the prudence of those living on earth in their mutual unity and like-mindedness. It is in the will of the king to arrange the regiments of soldiers, in the will of God - a certain charter for everything. " So, notes another teacher of the Church, “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, by its nature and purpose. " And "not for a single day does God cease from the work of managing creatures, so that they would not immediately deviate from their natural paths, which are led and directed to achieve the fullness of their development, and to each remain 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 Dominions penetrate.
For the Seraphim, God is Flaming Love; for Cherubim - I will take out the luminous Wisdom; for Thrones, God is the King of Glory; for the Dominions, God is the Lord-Provider. Primarily over all other ranks of the Lordship, they contemplate God precisely as a Provider, they sing of His care for the world: they see “the path in the sea, and His strong path in the waves” (Prem. 14: 3), with fear they look at how “That one will change times and years, supplies kings and affixes ”(Dan. 2:21). Full of sacred delight and affection, the Dominions creep into the many different concerns of God: he dresses the krynas, “as if Solomon in all his glory is clothed, as one of these” (Matthew 6:29), as He dresses “the sky, clouds, prepares the earth for rain , grasses and grains grow on the mountains for the service of man: he gives their cattle their food, and to the raven chicks who call him "(Psalm 146: 7-9). The Lords marvel at how God, so great, embraces everyone and everything with His care; stores and protects every blade of grass, every midge, the smallest grain of sand.
Contemplating God as the Provider - the Builder of the world, Dominion and people are taught to arrange themselves, their soul; teach us to take care of the soul, to provide for it; inspire a person to rule over their passions, over various sinful habits, to oppress the flesh, giving room to the spirit. Dominance must be prayerfully invoked to help everyone who wants to free himself from any passion, wants to prevail over it, to lag behind any bad habit, but cannot do this due to weak will.

Forces

Predominantly over all other orders, this angelic order contemplates God as creating many powers or miracles. For the Forces, God is a Miracle Worker. “Thou art God, working miracles” (Psalm 76:15) - this is the subject of their constant praise and praise. The forces delve into how "where God wants, the nature of the rank is conquered." Oh, how enthusiastic, how solemn, how marvelous these songs must be! If we, clothed with flesh and blood, when we witness some obvious miracle of God, for example, the insight of the blind, the recovery of the hopelessly sick, come into indescribable delight and awe, we are amazed, we are moved, then what can we say about the Powers when it is given to them to see such miracles that our mind cannot even imagine. Moreover, they can delve into the very depths of these miracles, their highest goal is open to them.

Authorities

Angels belonging to this order contemplate and glorify God as Almighty, "all power that has in heaven and on earth." The fearsome God, “His sight dries up the abyss, and the rebuke melts the mountains, walking as if on dry land, over the splash of the sea, and forbidding the storm of the winds; touching the mountains and smoking; calling the water of the sea and pouring on the face of all the earth. "
Angels of the sixth order are the closest, constant witnesses of God's omnipotence, preferably before others they are given to feel it. From the constant contemplation of the Divine power, from constant contact with it, these angels fulfill they are imbued with this power as a red-hot iron is penetrated by fire, which is why they themselves become the bearers of this power and are called: Power. The power with which they are clothed and filled is unbearable for the devil and all his hordes; this power turns the devil's hordes to flight, to the underworld, into pitch darkness, into tartar.
That is why all those tormented by the devil should prayerfully call for the help of the Power; about all possessed, various seizures, hysterics, corrupted - you must daily pray to the Authorities: "Holy authorities, by the power given to you by God, drive away from the servant of God (name) or the servant of God (name) the demon tormenting him (or her)!"

Beginnings

These angels are so called because God has entrusted them with leadership 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, put 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 you please, the will of God. It is known, for example, that lightning often scorches blasphemers; hail beats one field, the other leaves unharmed ... Who gives such a rational direction to a soulless, unreasonable element? Beginnings do it.
“I saw,” says the secret viewer of St. John the Theologian, - a mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; over his head was a rainbow, and his face was like the sun ... And he put his right foot on the sea, and his left on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, like a lion roars; and when he cried out, then seven thunders spoke with their voices "(Rev. 10: 1-3); saw and heard the apostle John both "the angel of the water" (Rev. 16: 5), and the "angel having rulership over fire" (Rev. 14:18). “I saw,” 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 either on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree ... - it is given to them to harm the earth and the sea "(Rev. 7: 1-2 ).
Principles also have command over entire nations, cities, kingdoms, 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 Hellenic (Dan. 10:13, 20). The principles, entrusted to their authorities, lead the peoples to the highest good goals, which the Lord Himself indicates and prescribes; “They are erecting,” according to St. Dionysius the Areopagite, - how many can those who willingly obey them, to God, as to their Beginning. " They stand before the Lord for their people, "instill," notes one saint, "to people, especially to kings and other rulers, thoughts and intentions related to the good of the nations."

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 ways of life are presented to a person: there is a monastic way, a way of a marriage state, there are different kinds of service. What to choose, what to decide on, what to stay on? This is where the Archangels come to help man. To them the Lord reveals His will for man. Archangels know, therefore, what awaits a famous person on this or that path of life: what adversity, temptation, temptation; therefore, they deviate from one path, and direct a person to another, teach him to choose the correct path suitable for him.
Whoever is broken by life, hesitates, does not know which way to go, he should call for the help of the Archangels, so that they teach him how to live he should: “Archangels of God, determined by God Himself for our teaching, admonition, teach me which way to choose , I will go splendidly, that I may please my God! "

Angels

These are the ones closest to us. The angels continue what the Archangels begin: the Archangels teach man to recognize the will of God, set him on the path of life indicated by God; Angels lead a person along this path, guide, protect the one who is walking, so that he does not deviate to the side, they reinforce the exhausted one, they raise the falling one.
Angels are so close to us that they surround us from everywhere, look at us from everywhere, watch our every step, and, according to St. John Chrysostom, “all the air is filled with angels”; Angels, in the words of the same saint, "stand before the priest at the time of the terrible Sacrifice."

Guardian angel

From among the angels, the Lord, from the moment of our baptism, has assigned to each of us a special angel, who is called the Guardian Angel. This Angel loves us so much as no one on earth can love. The Guardian Angel is our inherent friend, invisible quiet companion, sweet comforter. He desires only one thing for each of us - the salvation of the soul; to this he directs all his concerns. And if he sees us also being concerned about salvation, he rejoices, but if he sees us being in neglect of his soul, he grieves.
Do you want to always be with the Angel? Flee sin, and the Angel will be with you. “As, - says Basil the Great, - the smoke and the stench of the pigeons drives away bees, so the Guardian of our life - the Angel - removes the much-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 departs 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 busy with thinking of God, when you repent, you are touched, then it means that there is an Angel nearby. “When, according to the testimony of John Climacus, 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 you have a storm in your soul, passions in your heart, your mind arrogantly puffs, 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 in front of the icons, prostrate yourself, pray, sign yourself with the sign of the cross, cry. Believe, your Guardian Angel will hear your prayer, come, drive the demon, say to the restless soul, the heart overwhelmed: "Be quiet, stop." And the silence of the great will come in you. Oh, Guardian Angel, always protect us from the storm, in the silence of Christ!
Why, someone asks, is it impossible to see the Angel, it is impossible to speak, to converse with him as we converse with each other? Why can't the Angel appear in a visible way? Therefore, in order not to frighten, not to confuse us with his appearance, for he knows how faint-hearted, fearful and timid we are before everything mysterious.

Angel Day, name day

Every Orthodox Christian bears the name of the saint after whom he is named. The name is chosen according to the church calendar, each day of which is dedicated to the memory of one or another saint. Memorial Day of the saint, whose name the Orthodox Christian bears and is called: Day of the Angel, or.

After performing the Sacrament of Baptism, the saint, whose name is chosen for the child or for the baptized adult, becomes his heavenly patron. You yourself can choose from several saints the one who is especially close to you. If you do not know anything about any of them, consider as your heavenly patron the one whose memorial day on the calendar is closest to your birthday.

“The Lord gives each of us two Angels- Teaches us Fyodor of Edesskiy, - one of whom - the Guardian Angel - protects us from all evil, from various misfortunes and helps to do good, and the other Angel - the holy saint of God, whose name we bear, intercedes for us before God, prays to God for us. His prayers, as more worthy, pleasing to God, are rather accepted than ours, sinners.

Angelsbeing ministers of love and peace, they rejoice over our repentance and success in good deeds, try to fill us with spiritual contemplation (according to our receptivity) and help us in all good. "

“The saints,” wrote the Monk Silouan the Athonite, “in the Holy Spirit see our life and our deeds. They know our sorrows and hear our fervent prayers ... The Saints do not forget us and pray for us ... They also see the suffering of people on earth. The Lord gave them such great grace that they embrace the whole world with love. They see and know how we faint from sorrow, how our souls have dried up, how despondency has fettered them, and, without ceasing, they intercede for us before God. "

The name given to a person at baptism no longer changes, except for a few, very rare, cases, such as, for example, when taking monastic vows. With the name given to a person at baptism, a person remains in his entire future life, with him passes to the next world; his name, after his death, is repeated by the Church when prayers are offered for the repose of his soul.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel, Canon to the Guardian Angel

"See that you despise not one 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).

Troparion, voice 6th

To the angel of God, my holy guardian, observe my belly in the passion of Christ God, strengthen my mind in the true path, and bite my soul to the love of the heavens, so that we are guided by you, I will receive great mercy from Christ God.
Glory, and now:

Mother of God
Holy Lady, Christ of our God Mother, as if all the Creator gave birth to perplexity, pray His goodness always, with my guardian angel, to save my soul, possessed by passions, and forgiveness of sins by the gifts.

Canon, voice 8th

Song 1
We will sing to the Lord, who has led the people through His Red Sea, as alone gloriously glorified.

Sing and praise the song, Savior, Thy servant worthy of vouching, incorporeal Angel, my mentor and guardian.
Chorus: Holy Angel of God, my guardian, pray to God for me.
I am only one in folly and in laziness now I lie, my mentor and guardian, do not leave me, perishing.
Glory: Direct my mind with your prayer, do God's commands, so that I will receive from God the surrender of sins, and with the hate of the evil, instruct me, pray to you.
And now: Pray, Maiden, for me, Thy servant, to the Benefactor, with my guardian Angel, and instruct me to do the commandments of Thy Son and My Creator.

Song 3
Thou art the confirmation of those flowing to Thee, O Lord, Thou art the light of the darkened, and my spirit sings Thee.
All my thoughts and my soul I have laid on you, my keeper; Deliver me from all the misfortunes of the enemy.
The enemy tramples on me, and embitters me, and teaches me to always do my own desires; but you, my mentor, do not leave me perishing.
Glory: Petit the song with thanksgiving and zeal to the Creator and God, give me, and to you, my good angel, my guardian: my deliverer, remove me from the enemies that embitter me.
And now: Heal, Most Pure One, my many unpleasant scabs, even in souls, burn enemies, those who are always fighting with me.

Sedalen, voice 2nd
From the love of my soul, cry out to thee, the guardian of my soul, my all-holy Angel: cover me and keep me from evil catching always, and teach heavenly life, enlightening and enlightening and strengthening me.
Glory, and now: Mother of God:
The Blessed Virgin Mary of the Most Pure, Even without a seed, having given birth to all the Lord, the One with my guardian angel, pray, rid us of all bewilderment, and give tenderness and light of my soul and purification of sin, Even one who soon intercepts.

Song 4
Hearing, O Lord, Thy watchfulness, the understanding of Thy deeds, and glorify Thy Divinity.
Pray to the Man-lover of God you, my guardian, and do not leave me, but always observe my life in the world and grant me invincible salvation.
As a protector and guardian of my stomach, I receive thee from God, Angela, I pray thee, saint, freedom from all my troubles.
Glory: Cleanse my filthiness with your sanctity, my guardian, and let me be excommunicated from the part of the shuia by your prayers and I will appear a partaker of glory.
And now: Perplexity lies before me from the evils that have consumed me, Most Pure One, but deliver me from them soon: there is only one resort to You.
Song 5
A maturing cry to Ty: Lord, save us; Thou art our God, don’t we believe otherwise.
As if having boldness to God, my holy keeper, pray to deliver this from the evils offending me.
Bright light, light enlighten my soul, my mentor and guardian, given by God to my Angel.
Glory: Sleeping me with an evil burden of sin, as if keeping vigilant, Angel of God, and raise me up to praise with your prayer.
And now: Mary, the Lady of the Mother of God, the bride-to-be, the hope of the faithful, put down the exaltation of the enemy, and those who sing Thee are gladdened.
Song 6
Give my robe a light, dress like a robe with light, Christ our God is much merciful.
Free me from all misfortunes, and save me from sorrows, I pray to you, holy Angela, given to me from God, my kind keeper.
Illuminate my mind, better, and enlighten me, pray to you, holy Angele, and always guide me with useful thoughts.
Glory: Lead my heart from the real rebellion, and vigilantly strengthen me in the good, my guardian, and guide me wonderfully to the silence of animals.
And now: the Word of God dwelt in Thee, the Mother of God, and as a man, Thy showed the heavenly ladder; By you, the Most High came down to us to eat.
Kontakion, voice 4th
Appear to me with mercy, holy Angel of the Lord, my guardian, and do not leave me, the filthy one, but enlighten me with inviolable light and make me worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Ikos
My soul is humbled by many temptations, you, saint to the presenter, vouch for the ineffable glory of heaven, and a singer from the face of the incorporeal powers of God, have mercy on me and preserve, and enlighten my soul with good thoughts, so that with your glory, my Angel, I will be enriched, and put down the enemies who think evil to me , and make me worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Canto 7
From Judea, youths came down, in Babylon sometimes, by faith in the Trinity, the cave flame was begging, singing: Fathers, God, blessed art.
Wake me mercifully, and pray to God, Lord Angela, I have for you an intercessor in all my belly, a mentor and guardian, given by God for ever.
Do not leave on the way the marching soul of my accursed murder by a robber, holy Angele, even from God I was betrayed blameless; but instruct you on the path of repentance.
Glory: I bring my whole soul to shame from my evil thoughts and deeds: but beforehand, my mentor, and give me good thoughts with healing, always deviate to the right path.
And now: Fill all the wisdom and the Divine fortress, the Hypostatic Wisdom of the Most High, the Mother of God, for the sake of those crying by faith: our father, God, blessed be you.
Song 8
The King of Heaven, He is also sung by the warriors of the angels, praise and exalt for all eternity.
Sent from God, strengthen my belly, thy servant, blessed Angela, and do not leave me forever.
The angel you are good, my soul guide and guardian, most blessed, I sing for ever.
Glory: Be the cover and take away all people on the day of testing, good and evil deeds are tempted with fire.
And now: Be my helper and silence, the Mother of God Ever-ever, Thy servant, and do not leave me deprived of the existence of Thy dominion.
Canto 9
Truly, we confess Theotokos to Thee, saved by Thee, Virgin, pure, with incorporeal faces of Thee, magnifying.
To Jesus: Lord Jesus Christ my God, have mercy on me.
Have mercy on me, my only Savior, for you are merciful and merciful, and make me a partaker of righteous faces.
Always think and create, Lord Angela, grant good and useful, as the manifestation is strong in weakness and blameless.
Glory: As if having boldness to the Heavenly King, pray to Him, with the rest of the incorporeal, have mercy on me, accursed.
And now: Have much boldness, Virgin, to the One incarnate from Thee, transfer me from the bonds and grant me permission and salvation by Thy prayers.

Prayer to the Guardian Angel

To the holy angel of Christ, I pray to you, my holy guardian, given to me for the observance of my sinful soul and body from holy baptism, and with my laziness and my evil custom, the anger of your most pure grace and drive away from myself with all the cold deeds: lies, slander , envy, condemnation, contempt, disobedience, brotherly hatred, and malice, love of money, adultery, rage, avarice, overeating without satiety and drunkenness, polyphony, evil thoughts and crafty, proud custom and lustful self-indulgence for all of them. Oh, my evil will, he and cattle do not do wordlessness! But how can you gaze at me, or approach me, like a stinking dog? Whose eyes, angel of Christ, look at me, wrapped in evil in vile deeds? But how can I ask for forgiveness by my bitter and wicked and crafty deed, I fall into poverty all day and night and for every hour? But I pray to you, falling down, my holy keeper, have mercy on me, your sinful and unworthy servant (name)

Films about angels

Angels and demons. Who are they?

Orthodox stories. N. Agafonov "The Tale of How Angels Fell from Heaven"

Angels and Demons (lecture by the teacher of the Sretensky Theological Seminary)

Orthodox stories. A tale of angels and demons

The ranks of the powers of heaven and saints in Orthodoxy. Heavenly hierarchy.

Since the creation of the world and man, there have always been creatures that hinder people and that help. Angels, Cherubim, Seraphim - perhaps there is not a single person on earth who has not heard about these disembodied forces. Since ancient times, people have known about the existence of angels, they were revered, and continue to be honored in many religions, angels are revered by almost all peoples of the world. Angels are mentioned more than once in the Holy Scriptures, their actions are described in fulfilling the will of God, helping the righteous, as well as protecting people from troubles and misfortunes with their angelic cover. But, angels are mentioned not only in the main Christian book, information about them was also left by the Holy Fathers, to whom heavenly beings more than once appeared and conveyed to them the will of the Most High, they passed it on, since according to God's plan, he sends angels to notify, bring news, therefore they are called angels, that is, messengers.

The Lord endowed his disembodied messengers with many gifts and powerful power, with the help of which God's spiritual essences can influence the world of things and man, but only according to the will of the Lord and his will, fulfilling his will. With all their essence, angels love their Creator and abide in tireless gratitude to him for the bliss in which they abide, and this bliss cannot be compared with anything. There are a lot of angels, sometimes the human mind is lost in their countless numbers. In fact, everything is much simpler, because among the angels of heaven, there is its own harmony, order and hierarchy, which is described in the creation of the disciple of the Holy Apostle Paul - passion-bearer and martyr Dionysius the Areopagite. According to the scripture of Saint Dionysius, the heavenly hierarchy has three degrees, each of which has three orders, respectively, a total of nine spiritual entities:

Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones - are distinguished by their proximity to the Most High God. Domination;
Forces and Authorities - emphasize the basis of the universe and world dominion;
The beginnings - Archangels and Angels - are distinguished by their closeness to each person.

Our Lord Jesus Christ pours out his love on all his angels, starting with the highest faces, therefore the angelic ranks are in complete harmony and subordination of the lower ranks to the higher, according to the hierarchy.

Seraphim - this name means "Flaming, Fiery". They are always close to the Lord, of all the angels they are closest to the Heavenly Father. They burn with divine and great love for the Lord, transmit it to other faces, igniting them. This is their main purpose, and their main task.

Cherubim - this name means "Chariot". Prophet Ezekiel saw them in the form of a lion, an eagle, an ox and a man. This means that the Cherubim combine in themselves rationality, obedience, strength and speed, are God's chariot and stand before the throne of God. Cherubim know everything that the Lord allows his children to know, through them God sends wisdom and knowledge of it into the world.

Thrones are spiritual beings shining with the light of knowledge of God. God Himself rests on them not sensually, but spiritually, and administers his just judgment. Their purpose is to help the children of God, to be honest and to do only what is fair.

Dominions - dominate the subsequent ranks of angels. Their direct purpose is to protect from the fall, tame obstinacy, overcome the thirst for temptation and piously control their feelings.

Forces are created by the Lord in order to work miracles, to give gifts of clairvoyance, healing from ailments, and miracles to the holy saints of God and righteous holy fathers. They help people endure hardships and hardships, give wisdom, fortitude and prudence.

Authorities - True God is endowed with special power, they are able to tame the actions and power of Satan. Their direct purpose is to protect earthly inhabitants from the wiles of the devil, to protect ascetics in their pious life, and to pacify the elements of nature.

Beginnings - lead the lowest degree of angels, direct their deeds to fulfill the will of God. They rule the universe, the world and the peoples inhabiting the earth. They teach earthlings to live not for their own benefit, but for the glory of God.

Archangels - were created to carry the good news to the world of people, to reveal the mystery of the Christian faith, and to convey the will of the Lord to people. They are guides - Revelation.

Angels - the main protectors of ordinary people, every person has, they instruct him on the righteous path, protect him from evil spirits and evil spirits, keep him from falling and help the fallen to rise.

According to Holy Scripture, the Archangel Michael, the heavenly warrior and the commander-in-chief of the angelic army, is placed over all the angelic ranks. Led by the Archangel Michael, the Divine Angels cast the proud angel and all those who followed Satan into the underworld. The great warrior of the forces of heaven, Archangel Michael, took part in many heavenly battles and defended the people of Israel in troubles and adversities.

In addition to the incorporeal forces, there is a distribution of all saints to the ranks of holiness, which are understood in different categories, namely:

Holy Old Testament - Holy Fathers and Prophets
Saints of the New Testament - Apostles, Equal-to-the-Apostles and Illuminators, Prelates, Great Martyrs and Martyrs, Confessors and Passion-bearers, Monks, Holy Fools, Blessed Believers, Unsilverred.

So who are these New Testament saints?

True God - created his spiritual essences intelligent and strong, and distributed them according to the type of service. By merit, the way of life and the degree of holiness, the Old Testament and New Testament Saints are distributed.

According to the Orthodox doctrine, God created not only the visible world, but also the invisible, spiritual world. What do we know about the world of the “Forces of Heaven”?

Angel (greekmessenger, messenger) - a spiritual, invisible being,
which, like man, was created by God and has a personal being.
In the relationship between man and God, angels perform a service role: they proclaim the will of God to people.

According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, all angels (Heavenly Forces) are divided into three faces. In turn, each face is subdivided into three more. This division is based on two principles: the degree of closeness to God and the type of service.