The Hierarchy of Angels

Michaelmas 2021 Sermon | Kitty Price

In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

As it is Michaelmas this week, where we celebrate Michael and all angels, I thought we could go on a little exploration of the hierarchy of angels. It would be easy to say that as the word angel comes from the Greek angelos, which means messenger, we are just focusing on their role as communicating messages from God to humans, but, darlings, it is so much more than that!

There are angels in almost all the world faiths, and common in non-theistic spiritualities. 1 in 3 people believe in guardian angels, and 1 in 10 people claim seeing angels. Perhaps the angels they believe in are more of a Hallmark card than they are supposed to be – does this really matter? The popularity of angels has seen an explosion in popular fiction, art, and music: Jimi Hendrix, U2, Robbie Williams, Sarah Maclachlan and Abba are some of the artists to have written about angels in their songs. Angels in the contemporary arts was the focus of my master’s dissertation. Not that you would know because I seem to have forgotten most of it! This is a lifelong problem for me. Over the years I have had to find ways to compensate for having such a terrible memory, and writing things down definitely helps.

Making lists is an essential part of giving me a vague feeling of being in control of the various strands of my life. I’m not as obsessive as one of my sisters who, when younger, developed a classification system for her clothes by putting coloured labels on her coat hangers! “A place for everything and everything in its place.”

This is how I think Pseudo-Dionysius the Areogapite, was a late 5th Century, early 6th Century writer, most probably a Syrian monk. The rather impressive name – Dionysius the Areogapite – was not actually his name, hence adding the pseudo to the front. Anyway, this chap, whatever his name, was influential in the way he wove some of the ideas of Plato – the separation of body and soul – with Christian teachings, especially those about mysticism.

Pseudo-D, as I like to call him, was a bit of a list maker and liked to put things in their correct place. He did this with the heavenly hierarchy of angels, something which has stuck in Christian theology. His book, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy ranked the angels. He said that there are 9 types in 3 groups of 3, that wonderful number, the number of the Trinity. The groups are known as choirs.

Coming in at the highest level we have the angels of presence: Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones, who are the closest to God) and their main purpose is to praise God.

The Seraphim, the plural of Seraph, are described as having two or three pairs of wings and they are guardians of God’s thrones (the sapphire throne mentioned in our first hymn) – his heavies, as you were. The name Seraphim means “to make hot” and are thus painted red in artwork. The most famous example of the seraphim is when they appear in the vision of Isaiah: they are praising God with “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3). In the Orthodox Church this is called the Trisagion (Thrice holy).

The Cherubim, plural of cherub, is another winged creature throne bearer associated with knowledge and wisdom. As such they guarded the Garden of Eden. In art the four-winged cherubim are painted blue (symbolizing the sky). In Ezekiel’s vision they appear as four living creatures: “Each one had four faces: the first face was that of the cherub, the second face was that of a human being, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.” (Ezekiel 10:14) The Cherubim drive The Thrones, which are the chariots. Paul mentions these in his letter to the Colossians: “…for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.” (1:16)

Level 2 has the angels of government and spreading light to the world: Dominions, Virtues and Powers

Dominions keep the world in order, controlling the stars and planets, carrying orbs on sceptres or swords to show this. They also lead angels further down the hierarchy, and they deliver God’s justice and mercy. Dominions destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Angelology says that one of the Dominion angels stopped the sacrifice of Isaac.

Virtues help control nature and are the 007s of miracles on earth and show courage. Powers are able to control evil spirits that cause havoc on earth, displaying harmony and order.

Level 3: The lowest group in the hierarchy contains Principalities, Archangels and Angels who, though spiritually pure, were nearest to humanity, so best placed to guide humans in the right direction.

Principalities display authority, Archangels, unity and lastly, the role of angels, that of revelation and messengers. Archangels and Angels are the ones who have most contact with humans, which may explain why it is these who have captured our imaginations. The two most familiar archangels are Gabriel and Michael.

For many Christians and non-Christians, Gabriel is perhaps more commonly known as he delivered the news of the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah, and then the Annunciation, announcing to Mary that she would give birth to Jesus.

Michael is the head archangel; represented as a warrior, he helps protect the faith from the Devil and his angels, as shown in the Book of Revelation with a sword, standing in victory over Satan, the dragon after the war in heaven. He spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai (Acts 7:38).

Angels play a significant role in Islam:

Jibr’il (Gabriel) - has over 600 wings with eyes on them, and the wings span as wide as the horizon – and delivered the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad. The Angel Mika’il (Michael) has green wings with saffron hairs, and each hair has a million faces and mouths that can communicate in all languages.

At the end of each set of prayers, Muslims turn to the right then left to greet the angels who are recording their good and bad deeds. When Judgement Day arrives, these angels will report back on your actions in this life, which will determine what happens in the next.

Whatever the roles of angelic powers, whether Pseudo-Dionysius the Areogapite was correct in his celestial classifications, belief in the existence of angels is here to stay. Orthodox Christianity teaches that everyone has their own guardian angel. This is rather poignant given we have heard John Tavener’s astonishing anthem Song for Athene, with the words from the Orthodox funeral service, “May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

In terms of considering simple angels, the ones at the bottom of the heap, I wonder what messages they are trying to communicate to us today? Are we listening? Who is an angel in your life? It is essential to have people in your life who say what needs to be said, not what we want to hear, otherwise we become to self-centred and not God-centred. And, as it says in the letter to the Hebrews: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Don’t be that someone. Amen.