FATHER

1. Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones

MYSTERY of MYRRH

BISHOP

MONKS

SON

2. Dominions, Virtues, Powers

EUCHARIST

PRIEST

COMMUNICANTS

SPIRIT

3. Principalities, Archangels, Angels

BAPTISM

DEACON

POSSESSED

On the Nine Orders of Angels

(84.22-86.1)

These then are the most holy

[3] “Thrones” and the and many-eyed and many-winged ranks of

[2] “Cherubim”; and

[1] “Seraphim”

as they are called in Hebrew.

Τούς τε γὰρ ἁγιωτάτους

θρόνους καὶ τὰ πολυόμματα καὶ πολύπτερα τάγματα

Χερουβὶμ Ἑβραίων φωνῇ καὶ

Σεραφὶμ

ὠνομασμένα

Second he says is that which of the

[6] Dominions/Lordships, and

[5] Princedoms, and

[4] Powers/Virtues

is constituted;

δευτέραν ²⁷ δ΄ εἶναί φησιν τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν

ἐξουσιῶν καὶ

κυριοτήτων καὶ

δυνάμεων

συμπληρουμένην

And third is the last of the Heavenly Hierarchies which of the

[9] Angels and

[8] Archangels and

[7] Principalities

is composed.

  καὶ τρίτην ἐπ΄ ἐσχάτων τῶν οὐρανίων ἱεραρχιῶν τὴν τῶν

ἀγγέλων τε καὶ

ἀρχαγγέλων καὶ

ἀρχῶν

διακόσμησιν.

The Symbols of “Eagles” and “Horses”

15.8 [...] The [form of the] eagle [signifies] royalty, soaring above, the speeding wing, agility, readiness, speed, and cunning to locate power-bestowing food, the contemplation that is freely, directly and unswervingly turned in strong intensity toward those generously abundant rays of the divine sun.

     τὴν δὲ τοῦ ἀετοῦ τὸ βασιλικὸν καὶ ὑψίφορον καὶ ταχυπετὲς καὶ τὸ πρὸς τὴν δυναμοποιὸν τροφὴν ὀξὺ καὶ νῆφον καὶ ἐντρεχὲς καὶ εὐμήχανον καὶ τὸ πρὸς τὴν ἄφθονον καὶ πολύφωτον ἀκτῖνα τῆς θεαρχικῆς ἡλιοβολίας ἐν ταῖς τῶν ὀπτικῶν δυνάμεων εὐρώστοις ἀνατάσεσιν ἀνεμποδίστως κατ' εὐθὺ καὶ ἀκλινῶς θεωρητικόν,

St. John's Seminary chapel, Photo by Chris Kintanar

     tτὴν δὲ τῶν ἵππων τὸ εὐπειθὲς καὶ εὐήνιον, καὶ λευκῶν μὲν ὄντων τὸ λαμπρὸν καὶ ὡς μάλιστα τοῦ θείου φωτὸς συγγενές, κυανῶν δὲ ὄντων τὸ κρύφιον, ἐρυθρῶν δὲ τὸ πυρῶδες καὶ δραστήριον,

CHAPTERS TWO  and THREE,
 (Book 2/3)  theoria, 7-8

On Baptism and Anointing with Chrism

7. [...] THIS symbolic teaching therefore sacredly leads [mystagogei] the one  baptized into the mystery that by his triple immersion in the water he imitates, (insofar as imitating God is humanly possible) the sacred death of Jesus, the giver of life, who spent three days and nights in the tomb; in whom, according to the mysterious and hidden tradition of the Scriptures, the ruler of this world found nothing.

Τὸν οὖν ἱερῶς βαπτιζόμενον ἡ συμβολικὴ διδασκαλία μυσταγωγεῖ ταῖς ἐν τῷ ὕδατι τρισὶ καταδύσεσι τὸν θεαρχικὸν τῆς τριημερονύκτου ταφῆς Ἰησοῦ τοῦ ζωοδότου μιμεῖσθαι θάνατον ὡς ἐφικτὸν ἀνδράσι τὸ θεομίμητον, ἐν ᾧ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ λογίου μυστηριώδη καὶ κρυφίαν παράδοσιν οὐδὲν εὕρηκεν ὁ τοῦ κόσμου ἄρχων.

Transfiguration, St. Katherine's, Sinai

Baptism, Daphne

     The perfecting annointing with ointment gives a sweet odor to the one who has been perfected [=initiated], for the perfect sacred birth joins the initiates together with the supremely divine Spirit. [...] When all is done, the hierarch [bishop] calls the one who has been initiated to the most holy Eucharist and imparts to him communion in the mysteries that will perfect him.

Ἡ δὲ τοῦ μύρου τελειωτικὴ χρῖσις εὐώδη ποιεῖ τὸν τετελεσμένον. Ἡ γὰρ ἱερὰ τῆς θεογενεσίας τελείωσις ἑνοῖ τὰ τελεσθέντα τῷ θεαρχικῷ πνεύματι. [...] Ἐν τέλει δὲ πάντων ὁ ἱεράρχης ἐπὶ τὴν ἱερωτάτην εὐχαριστίαν καλεῖ τὸν τετελεσμένον καὶ τῆς τῶν τελεστικῶν μυστηρίων αὐτῷ μεταδίδωσι κοινωνίας.

CHAPTER THREE
The rite of the synaxis [=Eucharist].

     1. [...] AS my celebrated teacher has declared, this is indeed the sacrament of sacraments [or perfection of perfections] [...]

79 {1<ΙΙΙ.>}   Ἀλλ' εὖγε ὅτι ταύτης ἐμνήσθημεν, ἣν οὐ θεμιτὸν ἐμοὶ παραδραμόντι [...] τελετῶν τελετὴ [...]  

[1] gathers our fragmented [divided] lives into a one-like divinization; 

καὶ τὰς μεριστὰς ἡμῶν ζωὰς εἰς ἑνοειδῆ θέωσιν συναγούσης

[2] [and] forges a divine unity out of the differences [divisions] within us; 

καὶ τῇ τῶν διαιρετῶν θεοειδεῖ συμπτύξεϊ

[3] bestowing upon us [the gifts of] communion and union with the One.

τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἓν κοινωνίαν καὶ ἕνωσιν δωρουμένης.

[1] divinely bringing about a spiritual gathering to the One for him who receives the sacrament, 

τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ ἓν τοῦ τελεσθέντος ἱερουργούσης συναγωγὴν

[2] granting him as a gift from God its mysterious perfecting capacities,

καὶ τῇ θεοπαραδότῳ δωρεᾷ τῶν τελειωτικῶν μυστηρίων

[3] perfecting in fact his communion with God. 

καὶ τῇ θεοπαραδότῳ δωρεᾷ τῶν τελειωτικῶν μυστηρίων

[The Unity of God expands out of love into the diversity of liturgical symbols,
thus drawing into unity by means of diversity]

 Then it draws all these varied symbols together into union, returns to its own inherent oneness, and confers union on all those divinely lifted up to it.

ἀλλ' ἑνοειδῶς ἐκ τούτων αὖθις εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν μονάδα συνάγεται καὶ ἑνοποιεῖ τοὺς ἐπ' αὐτὴν ἱερῶς ἀναγομένους.

The Deifying Power of Psalmody and Biblical Readings

[1] of the fact that God himself creates, lays down, and arranges all beings, [Genesis]

[2] of the legal hierarchy and administration; [Leviticus, Deuteronomy] 

[3] of the distributions, inheritances, and divisions of God's people; [Numbers]

[4] of holy judges; [Judges]

[5] of wise kings; [Kings]

[6] of godly priests; [Samuel]

[7] of the philosophy of ancient men who were unshakeable despite various and numerous misfortunes;  [Ecclesiastes]

[8] of wise practices for living; [Proverbs]

[9] of songs that divinely depict [icon] the ardor of God;  [Psalms]

[10] of prophecies predicting the future;  [Prophets]

[11] of the divine works of Jesus the man; [Synoptic Gospels]

[12] of the god-given and god-imitating communities and sacred teachings of his disciples; [Acts & Epistles]

[13] of the hidden and mystical vision of that inspired man who was the most beloved of the disciples; [Apocalypse]

[14] and the supermundane doctrine concerning the divine [nature] [theologia] of Jesus. [Gospel of John]

   -  [All of these] are for those capable of being divinized, who are rooted in the sacred and godlike upliftings of the sacraments.

to hymn all doctrine concerning divine [nature] and divine deeds; 

and to sing the sacred words and sacred deeds of all divine men. 

and when they have attuned us to the divine harmony and have brought us into harmony:

καὶ τῇ τῶν θείων ᾠδῶν ὁμοφωνίᾳ

with divine realities,

with ourselves,

and with others,

τὴν πρὸς τὰ θεῖα

καὶ ἑαυτοὺς

καὶ ἀλλήλους

ὁμοφροσύνην

It saved our nature from almost complete wreckage and delivered the dwelling place of our soul from the most accursed passion and from destructive defilement. Finally, it showed us a supramundane uplifting and an inspired way of life in shaping ourself to it as fully as lay in our power.

12. This imitation of God, how else are we to achieve it if not by endlessly reminding ourselves of God’s sacred works and doing so by way of the sacred hymns and the sacred acts established by the hierarchy? 

CHAPTER FIVE Concerning the Clerical Orders, powers, activities, and consecrations

            2. […] Now, the Word of God asserts that our hierarchy represents a more perfect initiation in that it is a fulfillment and completion of that hierarchy. [501D] It is both celestial and of the Law for it occupies a place half way between two opposites.  With the one it shares the contemplations of understanding; with the other it has in common the use of varied symbolism derived from the realm of perception, symbolism by means of which there is a sacred uplifting to the divine.

[1] the most holy operations of the sacraments,

[2] the godlike dispensers of the sacred things, and

[3] those guided by them, according to capacity, toward the sacred.

εἰς τὰς ἁγιωτάτας τῶν τελετῶν ἱερουργίας διαιρουμένη

καὶ τοὺς θεοειδεῖς τῶν ἱερῶν ὑπηρέτας

καὶ τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἀναλόγως ἐπὶ τὰ ἱερὰ προσαγομένους. 

     As I have already remarked in relation both to the hierarchy of the Law and to that hierarchy which is more divine than ours, each of the three divisions of our own hierarchy is triply divided into first, middle, and last in power.  This has been effected so as to achieve a proportion appropriate to sacred objectives and so as to bring all the elements together in order into a cohesive and harmonious communion.

3. [1] The first godlike power of the most holy work of the sacraments is the sacred purification of the uninitiated.

[2] Its middle power is to illuminate and to initiate those whom it has purified.

[3] Its final power, embracing all that went before, is to bring about in the initiates a more perfect understanding of that to which they have been initiated.

<3> Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἁγιωτάτη τῶν τελετῶν ἱερουργία πρώτην μὲν ἔχει θεοειδῆ δύναμιν τὴν ἱερὰν τῶν ἀτελέστων κάθαρσιν,

μέσην δὲ τὴν τῶν καθαρθέντων φωτιστικὴν μύησιν,

ἐσχάτην δὲ καὶ τῶν προτέρων συγκεφαλαιωτικὴν τὴν τῶν μυηθέντων ἐν ἐπιστήμῃ τῶν οἰκείων μυήσεων τελείωσιν.

[1] Their first power consists in purifying the uninitiated by way of the sacraments.

[2] Their middle power is to bring illumination to those whom they have purified.

[3] Finally, they have the most marvelous power of all, one which embraces all who commune in God's light, the power to perfect these by way of the perfected understanding they have of the contemplated enlightenments.

τῇ δυνάμει τῇ πρώτῃ διὰ τῶν τελετῶν ἀποκαθαίρει τοὺς ἀτελέστους,

ἐν τῇ μέσῃ δὲ φωταγωγεῖ τοὺς καθαρθέντας,

ἐν ἐσχάτῃ δὲ καὶ ἀκροτάτῃ τῶν ἱερουργῶν δυνάμεων ἀποτελειοῖ τοὺς τῷ θείῳ φωτὶ κεκοινωνηκότας ἐν ταῖς τῶν θεωρηθεισῶν ἐλλάμψεων ἐπιστημονικαῖς τελειώσεσιν.

With regard to the initiates, their first power is that of being purified. 

Their middle power is, after purification, the illumination which makes it possible for them to contemplate certain sacred things. 

Finally they have the power, more divine than the others, of being enlightened in the perfect understanding of the sacred illuminations which they have been permitted to contemplate.

    4. [504D] It is the all-holy ordinance of the divinity that secondary things should be lifted up to the most divine ray through the mediation of the primary things.  Do we not see this in the domain of the perceptible where beings of an elementary kind first meet with their kin and proceed then to go through these in bringing their activity to bear on other beings? 

Therefore the founding source of all invisible and visible order quite properly arranges for the rays of divine activity to be granted first to the more godlike beings, since theirs are the more discerning minds, minds with the native ability to receive and to pass on light, and it is through their mediation that this source transmits enlightenment and reveals itself to inferior beings in proportion to capacity. 

    It is therefore the task of the first ranks of those beholding God to reveal fittingly and without jealousy to those of second rank the sacred sights which they behold.  To initiate others into the hierarchy is the task of those who have with perfect understanding learned the divine secret of all that has to do with their hierarchy and to whom the power of sacramental initiation has been granted.  It is the function of those who are full and understanding partners in clerical consecration to pass on, as appropriate, all that is sacred.

    6.  [505D]  ^*(a) It is the order of Hierarchs [=bishops], that most fully possesses the power of perfecting.  In particular, it completes every hierarchic rite of perfecting.  It revealingly teaches others to understand, explaining their sacred things, proportionate characteristics, and their holy powers. 

    (b) The light-bearing order of Priests guides the initiates to the divine visions of the sacraments.  It does so by the authority of the inspired hierarchs in fellowship with whom it exercises the functions of its own ministry.  It makes known the works of God by way of the sacred symbols and it prepares the postulants to contemplate and participate in the holy sacraments.  But it sends on to the hierarch those longing for a full understanding of the divine rites which are being contemplated.

    (c) The order of Deacons purifies and discerns those who do not carry God's likeness within themselves and it does so before they come to the sacred rites performed by the priests.  It purifies all who approach by drawing them away from all dalliance with what is evil.  It makes them receptive to the ritual vision and communion. 

    7. [508C] I have now shown that the order of hierarchs has the task of consecration and of perfection, that the illuminative order of priests brings light and that the task of the deacons is to purify and to discern the imperfect.  But it is obvious that the order of hierarchs is not solely preoccupied with perfection.  It also brings illumination and purification. 

    Similarly, the order of priests has the understanding both to illuminate and to purify.  For although inferiors may not boldly and sacrilegiously trespass on the functions of their superiors, the more divine powers have, in addition to their own, the sacred understanding of the inferior ranks as part of their own perfection. 

    Since the differences of clerical function represent symbolically the divine activities and since they bestow enlightenment corresponding to the unconfused and pure order of these activities, their sacred activities and holy orders have been arranged hierarchically in the threefold division of first, middle, and last so as to present, as I have said already, an image of the ordered and harmonious nature of the divine activities. [p.239]

    The divinity first purifies those minds which it reaches and then illuminates them.  Following on their illumination it perfects them in a perfect conformity to God.  This being so, it is clear that the hierarchy, as an image of the divine, is divided into distinctive orders and powers in order to reveal that the activities of the divinity are preeminent for the utter holiness and purity, permanence and distinctiveness of their orders.