Chapter VIII.
On the confirmation of the good Angels.
Concerning the confirmation of the Angels, this must be held: that just as the angels turned away from God were immediately made obstinate through impenitence, so those turned toward God were immediately confirmed through grace and glory in will, perfectly illuminated in reason according to morning and evening knowledge, perfectly strengthened in power whether commanding or executive, and perfectly ordered in operation whether contemplative or ministering: and this according to a threefold hierarchy, namely the supreme, the middle, and the lowest.
To the supreme belong the Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim; to the middle, the Dominations, Virtues, and Powers; to the lowest, the Principalities, Archangels , Angels. Of these, very many are sent in ministry and deputed to the guardianship of men, whom they serve by purging, illuminating, and perfecting, according to the command of God's will.
The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: since the Angels, on account of their express likeness and proximity to the first and supreme principle, possess a deiform intellect and immutability after consent by freedom of choice, when divine grace supervened and they turned toward the supreme good, since they tended wholly toward God, through glory they were at once confirmed and perfected: therefore as to will they were stable and blessed: as to reason, perspicacious, so that they knew things not only in their proper genus, but also in the Art, and through this they possessed not only evening knowledge, but also morning, or even daytime, on account of the fullness and every manner of purity of that light, in respect of which every creature can rightly be called darkness . - As to virtuousness, perfectly strengthened whether in commanding, or in executing, whether with an assumed body or even without one.
As to operation, most perfectly ordered, so that they can no longer be disordered either by ascending to the contemplation of God or by descending to minister to man: for since they contemplate God face to face, wherever they are sent, they run within God.
For they are moved and they act according to the hierarchical order begun in them by nature and consummated through glory, which, by stabilizing the mutability of free choice, illuminated perspicacity, ordered dutiful service, and strengthened power, according to the four attributes named above.
The keenness of reason in contemplating either principally regards the divine majesty to be venerated, or truth to be understood, or goodness to be desired: and according to this there are three orders in the first hierarchy, namely the Thrones, to whom pertains reverence; the Cherubim, to whom pertains wisdom, and the Seraphim, to whom pertains benevolence.
To perfect virtuousness pertains the imperative power, the executive power, and the expeditive power . The first pertains to the Dominations, the second to the Virtues, and the third to the Powers, whose role it is to ward off opposing powers.
To perfect dutiful service pertains to govern, to reveal, and to relieve. The first belongs to the Principalities, the second to the Archangels, and the third to the Angels, because they guard the standing lest they fall, and assist the fallen so that they may rise again.
And thus it is clear that all these things exist in the angels according to greater and lesser degree, descending by gradation from the highest down to the lowest. Moreover, an order ought to be named from that which "it has received more excellently as a gift."