It was Dionysius who first gave the Church a complete angelology.
In his Celestial Hierarchy, he presents an organized
angelic world, harmoniously coordinated in a descending ladder
from Seraphim to simple angels. We can only offer a brief summary
of his treatise here. First, we may say that he considered all
the heavenly spirits to be of the same nature, but differing
in rank according to their particular order, knowledge, and
function. Their purpose in existence is to attain the closest
possible likeness to God and be united to Him as closely as
possible. Each single order of the heavenly hierarchy profits
personally from a purification, illumination, and perfection
received from God, which it then communicates to the order below
it in due measure. Angelic knowledge comes either directly from
God or through an infused vision that is in accord with their
rank in the hierarchy and their closeness to God. They know
divine truth before men, since it is they who bear it to man.
They communicated divine revelations to us through the Patriarchs,
through Moses, the Prophets, Zachary, Mary, Joseph, and the
Shepherds. All the members of the heavenly orders are messengers
by nature, but only the archangels and angels are properly so
called-ad extra, ad intra-among themselves, all the orders are
messengers handing down to one another divine illuminations.
The number of angels surpasses all our conceptions; it
is known only by God. There are nine orders of angels, joined
together as links in a chain. Each order has a name denoting
the functions of its members. Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominations,
Powers, Virtues; Principalities, Archangels, Angels. The nine
choirs are divided into three hierarchies of three orders each,
from the Seraphim, closest to God, down to the Angels, closest
to men. Dionysius makes no mention of individual Guardian Angels,
but does say that each nation has a particular angel presiding
over it to guide it in following out the course of God's Providence.
The care of the Jewish nation has been assigned to the Archangel
Michael. Besides possessing their proper perfections, each order
has those of the orders inferior to it, but the opposite is
not true. Dionysius presupposes the absolute spirituality of
the angels as intelligent, intelligible, simple beings without
the least material quality of figure. The closing chapter tells
us that the corporeal terms applied to the angels in Scripture
are only accommodations made to sensible men. Elsewhere it is
said that the angels were created in eternity, men in time.
Angels are the measure of eternity (since they are closest to
it), and men of time.
