How does the angelic world work? " In the beginning God created heaven and earth" This is how the book of Genesis, the book of life, begins its narrative. From ancient times, the Church understood heaven as “smart heaven,” i.e. angelic world. The first creative act of the Triune Deity was the creation of the “second lights” - the disembodied heavenly forces.
This is how St. preached wisdom on this matter back in the 4th century. Gregory the Theologian: “Since for the grace of God it was not enough to engage only in contemplation of itself, but it was necessary that the good spread, going further and further, so that the number of those benefited was as large as possible, because this is characteristic of the highest goodness, - then God invents first of all angelic powers; and thought became a deed, which was filled with the Word and completed by the Spirit... Since the first creatures were pleasing to Him, He invents another world, material and visible, or, which is the same, the harmonious composition of heaven and earth, and what is between them” (Word 38th).
This is when and why the “smart sky” was created. However, the very name angel (a Greek word) means messenger in Russian, i.e. a creature created for some special service purpose to convey messages to someone. And, indeed, the Apostle Paul himself calls angels ministering spirits: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to serve for those who are to inherit salvation” ().
What a terrible and strange word: heavenly powers, in addition to serving God, are sent to serve people who will inherit salvation. To us weak people! This service to the human race is carried out primarily through guardian angels, which will be discussed later.
What do we know about how the angelic world was created and what is its structure? According to the teachings of the Church, angels were created before the beginning of the visible world and were created all at once, including in which they now remain, with the exception of fallen angels, the number of which theologians define as a third of the total number of angels, according to Revelation.
The nature of angels is purely spiritual. They are ethereal and incorporeal. The Church calls them “second lights.” As such, they are partakers of the divine light and the ineffable glory of God. Having been created free, the angels, after their victory over fallen spirits, became so strengthened in goodness, in obedience to God and in love for Him that they seemed to have lost all inclination to sin and were finally established in goodness. This is what makes them especially different from people.
The question is very difficult: which world is higher with God: the angelic world or the world of righteous people? The naming of angels as ministering spirits, as well as some other sacred texts, make it possible to consider human nature, transformed by holiness, to be superior to angelic nature, of course only in re-existence. Further, only about man it is said that he was created in the image and likeness of God. The Divine Word, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, took on human nature in order to save and redeem the sinful human race, but did not transform into one of the fallen angels in order to save them. However, there is no clear church teaching about this, so it is more prudent for us to humbly bow before this divine mystery...
What do we know about how the angelic world works? There is an essay about this by St. Dionysius the Areopagite, disciple of the Apostle Paul, under the title "Heavenly Hierarchy". We will present this work in a retelling of the famous Russian church writer of the 19th century, priest G. Dyachenko, with additions from other sources.
Heavenly hierarchy
It consists of three faces. Each face has three ranks. The highest face consists of seraphim, cherubim and thrones; middle - from dominations, powers and authorities; the lowest - from the beginnings, archangels and angels.
The highest angelic face is the seraphim. Their name means fiery, fiery. Directly and continuously standing before the One who is love, who lives in the unapproachable light, and whose throne is a flame of fire, the seraphim burn with the highest love for God, and this fire of love ignites others. The prophet Isaiah tells us about the seraphim in chapter 6: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the whole temple. Seraphim stood around Him, each of them had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And they called to one another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
The second rank of the senior rank consists of the cherubim, whose name means understanding or knowledge. For this reason they are called many-readers. Contemplating the glory of God and possessing supreme knowledge and wisdom, they pour out the wisdom of God to others. The Holy Scriptures speak in many places about cherubim, for example: “And God drove out Adam and placed in the east near the Garden of Eden a cherubim and a flaming sword turning to guard the way to the tree of life” (). The book of the prophet Ezekiel speaks about cherubim many times: “And the cherubim were seen to have the likeness of human hands under their wings. And I saw: behold, four wheels next to the cherubim, one wheel next to each cherub, and the wheels looked like they were made of topaz stone” (10: 8-9).
The third rank of the senior rank is thrones, called God-bearing not in essence, but in service, on which God gracefully and incomprehensibly rests. Through this face God reveals His greatness and justice.
Let us now move on to the middle face of the heavenly hierarchy. Its senior rank consists of dominions that rule over the lower angels. By willingly and joyfully serving God, they impart to those living on earth the power of prudent self-control and wise self-organization; They teach to control the feelings, subdue disorderly lusts and passions, enslave the flesh to the spirit, dominate the will and defeat temptations.
The dominions in the middle face are followed by powers through which God works signs and wonders for the glory of God, to help and strengthen those who labor and are burdened. The Apostle Peter announces to us about this rite, saying that the angels, the authorities, and the powers submitted to Christ who ascended into heaven.
The lowest rank of the middle rank includes the authorities who have great power over the devil, defeat him, protect a person from his temptations and strengthen him in deeds of piety. Some holy fathers believe that the guardian angel of the Apostle Peter, who led him out of prison, belonged to this rank of angels.
In the lowest rank of the heavenly hierarchy are: in the first rank the principles that rule over the younger angels, assign positions, distribute ministries among them, govern kingdoms and human societies.
The penultimate rank consists of archangels, evangelists and heralds of the mysteries of God, and communicate the will of God to people.
The last rank is simply called angels, the disembodied spirits closest to people. They are primarily sent into the world as our guardian angels. This is what we know about the ranks and faces of the heavenly hierarchy.
Great Sedmeritsa
St. is a little more open to us. Scripture and St. The legend of the seven highest archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Salafiel, Jehudiel and Barachiel.
The first two archangels stand at a special height and are also called the archangels of the power of the Lord. They are above all angelic faces and seem to lead all heavenly ethereal forces.
The name Michael from Hebrew means: “Who is like God?” or “Who is equal to God?” “IL” is an abbreviation of the ancient Hebrew word “Elohim,” which in Russian means God.
ARCHANGEL MICHAEL
Michael was second in the heavenly hierarchy after Satanael, who was also called Lucifer or Dennitsa, i.e. son of the dawn. When the latter, in his pride, rebelled against God, the Lord, according to His Divine discretion, allowed the angels who remained faithful to Him, led by the Archangel Michael, to fight him.
Apparently the struggle was very difficult, for they (the forces of light), according to the Revelation of John the Theologian, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and did not love their own lives even to death.”(). This passage of Revelation makes us understand that the mystery of redemption through the Blood of the Lamb, foreordained in the plans of God, had already begun to act representatively in the heavenly world and contributed to the victory of the angels who testified to it in heaven. As for the struggle “even to death,” here one should see the intensity of this struggle to the last limit, a struggle that could end, as it were, in the spiritual death of part of the heavenly hosts.
What else can be said about Archangel Michael? The Prophet Daniel calls him the guardian angel of the Jewish people. And after the stiff-necked Jewish people brought a curse upon themselves, betraying their Savior and Redeemer to death, and thereby losing their chosenness, the Archangel Michael, according to universal Christian belief, became the heavenly patron and champion of the Church of Christ. Therefore, many Holy Fathers, not without reason, believe that Archangel Michael, together with Archangel Gabriel, were precisely the angels who appeared to the myrrh-bearing women and preached the good news of the resurrection of Christ. And in a number of other New Testament appearances of angels it is possible to see this supreme duality. We will talk about the special phenomena of the Archangel Gabriel below.
On the day of the Last Judgment, of course, none other than the Archangel Michael will lead the heavenly army coming with Christ. Therefore, on icons this archangel is always depicted in a warlike form with a spear or sword in his hands. Sometimes the top of the spear is crowned with a white banner on which a cross is inscribed. The white banner means the archangel’s unshakable purity and unshakable loyalty to the Heavenly King, and the cross indicates that the battle with the kingdom of darkness and victory over it can only be achieved with the help of the Cross of Christ.
ARCHANGEL GABRIEL
The second place in the entire heavenly hierarchy is occupied by the archangel Gavriil. The name means the power of God. Since among the heavenly inhabitants the name always signifies the essence of his ministry, this archangel is especially the herald and servant of the omnipotence of God. It was he who announced to Zechariah how, by the power of God, from him, a barren old man, the greatest of all those born of women, John the Baptist and Baptist of the Lord, would be born. He announced to the godfathers Joachim and Anna about the birth of the wonderful and blessed Virgin. He visited and instructed Her in the Jerusalem temple, strengthening Her bodily strength with heavenly food. He brought Her a branch of paradise on the day of the Annunciation with the wonderful news that it was She who was chosen by God to receive God the Word into His bosom. Archangel Gabriel appears repeatedly to righteous Joseph, giving him the necessary advice. According to some Fathers, it was he who was the angel who strengthened the Lord at night in Gethsemane while praying for the cup. And, as stated above, he and Archangel Michael participated together in the gospel of the resurrection and ascension of Christ the Savior. Finally, the same Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Mother of God to announce to Her the day of Her earthly Dormition.
In church hymns, Archangel Gabriel is called “the minister of miracles,” as the harbinger of God’s great miracles. Therefore, iconographically he is sometimes depicted with a branch of paradise in his right hand, and sometimes he holds a lit lantern in it, while in his left he holds a jasper mirror. The lantern means that God’s destinies are hidden until time, and the mirror means that they are reflected through Gabriel, as in a mirror.
From the Word of God we know the names and deeds of five more archangels.
ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL
The third of them is called Rafail, What means God's healing. He is a healer of illnesses and a helper in sorrows. The Archangel Raphael is described in. It tells how this archangel, disguised as a man, accompanied the righteous Tobiah, freed his bride from an evil spirit, restored sight to his elderly father and, having taught Tobiah useful instructions, disappeared. Therefore, this archangel is depicted with a medical vessel in his hand, as Panteleimon the Healer was later painted. It is appropriate to call upon Him for all those who suffer mentally and physically, supporting prayer with deeds of mercy and love.
ARCHANGEL URIEL
The name of the fourth archangel is Uriel, What means light or fire of God. He is depicted with a sword raised up and held in his right hand near his chest, and with a flame in his left hand, facing down. As an angel of light, Uriel primarily enlightens the minds of people with the revelation of truths in general, and divinely revealed truths in particular. As an angel of Divine fire, he inflames the hearts of those who call upon him with love for God and destroys from them everything unclean, earthly and sinful. Therefore, he is considered the patron saint of those who are zealous for the spread of the true faith of Christ, i.e. missionaries, as well as people who devoted themselves to pure science. He is the true source of many great scientific discoveries. Those discoveries that those who made them themselves say that they often came to them suddenly, as if by inspiration from above. It is good for writers and poets to pray to Archangel Uriel for inspiration if they want to be writers and poets by God's grace. But we should not ask the archangel for the revelation of the secrets of nature that exceed our reason and our human needs, as well as the foreshadowing of future events.
Let us listen to how Uriel answered Ezra, a pious man, but not overly inquisitive. Ezra wanted to learn from the angel the secret of God's destinies for the world, and why evil apparently triumphs in the world? The Archangel agreed to answer, but demanded that Ezra first fulfill one of his three wishes: either weigh the flame of fire, or indicate the beginning of the wind, or return the past day. When Ezra pointed out that he was unable to do this, the godly archangel answered him like this:
“If I had asked you how many dwellings are in the heart of the sea, or how many springs are in the very foundation of the abyss, or what are the limits of paradise, perhaps you would have told me: I did not go into the abyss, and into hell, nor into heaven.” never ascended. Now I asked you only about the fire, the wind and the day that you experienced, i.e. about what you cannot be without - and to this you did not answer me.” And the angel said to Ezra: “You cannot know what is yours and with you from your youth; How could your mind accommodate the path of the Most High, and in this already corrupted age understand the corruption that is obvious in my eyes?”().
This wise instruction of the archangel would not hurt to remember the scientists of this age and not to forget that it behooves people of knowledge to be, first of all, servants of the light of truth.
ARCHANGEL SALATHIEL
The fifth archangel is called Salafiel, What means God's prayer book. He is mentioned in the same book of Ezra. He is depicted in a prayer position, with his hands on his chest and his eyes downcast. For those who have poor prayer progress, it is good for them to ask Archangel Salafiel to teach them how to do prayer. And how many of us can boast that they can pray attentively, undistractedly and, if not fervently, then at least warmly? And how few people know that there is a heavenly teacher of prayer, and do not call on the Archangel Salafiel for help.
ARCHANGEL JEHUDIL
The name of the sixth archangel is Yehudiel, What means glory or praise of God. He has a golden crown in his right hand, and a scourge of three ropes in his left. His duty, with a host of angels subordinate to him, is to protect, instruct and protect in the name of the Holy Trinity and the power of the Cross of Christ people working for the glory of God in various responsible branches of human service, to reward good workers and punish evil ones. Kings, military leaders and mayors, judges, householders, etc. should direct their prayerful gaze to this great celestial being.
ARCHANGEL BARAHIEL
Finally, the last of the sacred seven of the highest angels, the last in order, and not in dignity, is Barachiel, angel God's blessings, which means his name and expresses the appearance in which he appears on holy icons. He is depicted with many pink flowers in the depths of his clothing. Since the blessings of God are varied, the ministry of this archangel is very diverse. He is the supreme leader of the guardian angels, because through it the blessings of family well-being, the goodness of the air and the abundance of earthly fruits, success in purchases and in general in all everyday affairs are sent, i.e. everything that their guardian angels help people with.
In the same book of Ezra the name of the archangel is also mentioned Jeremiel, What means height of God, but the Church believes that this is the second name of the Archangel Uriel.
Life of Angels
Little has been revealed to humanity about how the heavenly angelic world lives now and how it will live at the end of time. However, from everything that has already been said, it is clear that the life of disembodied spirits is very diverse and their activity is great. If the Lord Almighty was pleased to create a whole hierarchy of angels (i.e., the entire angelic world), assigning a special type of activity to each rank, then this alone shows how much work and concern these “ministering spirits” have. Some guardian angels have a lot of trouble with their charges, often frivolous and sinful people. We have a lot of evidence from patristic writings about how guardian angels sometimes cry bitterly, looking at the sinful behavior of those whom they are sent to protect.
However, the heavenly angelic world is still a world of light and joy, and therefore in the life of angels there is undoubtedly more joy than sadness. And their highest joy lies in the contemplation and glorification of the radiant Triune Deity, in constant participation in God.
If on earth the Divine Liturgy is an invaluable gift and benefit of God to sinful humanity, a gift through which it is sanctified and becomes a partaker of the Divine, then it is permissible to piously think that the Lord did not deprive the ethereal powers of this great gift. It is believed that in the high heavens the spiritual Divine Liturgy is celebrated by the angelic face, in which the Lamb of God, by whom all things were, is eternally slain, out of love for His creation.
At this superworldly heavenly Eucharist, the angels predominantly offer praise and thanksgiving to the Creator. But countless chorales of heavenly powers also pour out petitions. About whom? Not about themselves, of course, for they are in the fullness of the favor available to them, but about their beloved human race, adulterous and sinful, mired in the vanity of the earthly world and so in need of heavenly help.
The guarantee of this is the constant participation of angels in our earthly services, especially in the liturgy.
“Now the heavenly powers serve with us invisibly,” the Church clearly testifies at the mysterious Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. And at the daily liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the performer of it, as if seeing the angels mentally, exclaims that they sing, cry, cry out and say: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts...”
The Church boldly testifies that: “Thy Resurrection, O Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven...”. These testimonies are infinitely numerous, and they are known to all Christian believers.
It remains to be said about how the angelic world operates on earth. This action is primarily carried out by guardian angels.
Guardian Angels
Christ Himself assured us of their existence, saying: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones (children); For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.”().
There are two opinions in the Church: some holy fathers believe that a guardian angel is given to a person already at his conception, others believe that only the newly baptized receive a guardian angel. These opinions are reconciled as follows: a guardian angel is appointed by God to a person at his conception, but begins to care for him only after baptism. This is confirmed by various texts from the Holy Scriptures and liturgical books.
Speaking about guardian angels, first of all we point out that, according to St. The Scriptures are given not only to individuals, but also to entire nations or churches. We have already said that Archangel Michael was first the guardian angel of the Jewish people, and after the latter lost his chosen position, according to the belief of the Church, he became its guardian angel.
The same prophet Daniel, who first named Michael "great prince" of the Jewish people, it also speaks of the heavenly princes of the Persian and Greek people. If these pagan peoples could have their “princes” in the person of guardian angels, then we can reasonably believe that other peoples, especially Christian peoples, are not deprived of this mercy.
The Revelation of John the Theologian repeatedly speaks of the angels of the seven Churches () and there are appeals to each of these angels: “Write to the angel of the Church of Ephesus... And write to the angel of the Church of Smyrna....” etc.
From what rank of the heavenly hierarchy are guardian angels chosen? It is most natural to assume that from the lowest there are simple angels. However, aren’t all ethereal forces called serving spirits? We already know that even the beginning of the leaders of the angelic face, Michael and Gabriel, were sent into the world to serve, and Michael now protects St. Church. Therefore, it would not be a sin to reverently assume that the guardianship of individual Orthodox Churches and peoples has been entrusted by the Lord to angels standing at higher levels of the heavenly hierarchy.
But let's talk about the guardian angels of us, ordinary Christians. The Church prays daily: “We ask the Lord for a peaceful, faithful mentor, guardian of our souls and bodies...” How should this be understood, since each of us already has our own guardian angel, at least from the day of our baptism? Our trouble is that with our sins and evil deeds we often drive our guardian angel far away from us. So we have to beg the Lord for his return.
We must firmly remember that our guardian angel is our closest, most faithful friend. Therefore, it is important to mentally talk and consult with him as often as possible. Those who do this know from experience how often, after a warm prayerful appeal to their angel, a bright and good thought suddenly comes to mind, and the perplexity that has arisen is successfully resolved. This is the answer of the guardian angel. It is good to fervently pray to your angel during times of grief, mental illness, and even business troubles. After all, our angel is “peaceful,” and he will help return peace to our troubled soul. If we learn to constantly feel the presence of our heavenly friend around us, then it will not be easy for us to sin.
Yes, we must, we definitely need to love our guardian angel. After all, he not only protects and protects us in this earthly life. He receives our soul immediately after death, protects it from demons, leads it through terrible ordeals and lifts it up to the first and second worship of God. The Guardian Angel will intercede for us at the Last Judgment. This is how the Church testifies in the canon to the Guardian Angel:
“When my humble soul is unharnessed from the body, then may your bright and holy wings cover it, my mentor.”
“When the thrones are set up, and the books are opened, and the Ancient of Days sits and people are judged... then show me your love for mankind, and beg Christ to deliver me from Gehenna...”
Let us now give at least a few of the many examples from life about the effective assistance of guardian angels to humanity. Each of us can multiply these examples from our own lives or from the lives of loved ones:
—An angel miraculously brought the Apostle Peter out of prison.
— Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian, was miraculously delivered from death by his guardian angel. One day, being late on the way, St. Polycarp went to spend the night in an inn with his deacon. At midnight, the guardian angel pushed him on the side and said: “Polycarpe, arise and quickly leave this inn, for it will collapse.” The appearance and warning occurred three times. And as soon as St. Polycarp left the hotel, it immediately collapsed.
— When the Monk Kirill built the Beloozersk monastery, all the neighboring residents were surprised at the success of the construction and considered Kirill a great rich man. With such rumors, one selfish landowner gathered all his servants and went into the night to rob Cyril and the monastery. Approaching the fence, the attackers see that a countless number of warriors with drawn sabers are walking around the monastery. The robbers waited until the morning for these warriors to fall asleep, but they did not wait, and so they went home. On the second night, the attackers noticed even more warriors and again returned without success. When morning came, the landowner sent a servant to the monastery to find out which regiment was stationed in the monastery and how long would they stay there? The messenger returned and reported to the landowner that for more than a week not a single pilgrim had been in the monastery, not just the army. Then the landowner realized that the monastery was protected by the angels of God, and repented of his intentions.
— There were two monks in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra - priest Titus and deacon Evagrius. For several years they lived so friendly with each other that the other brethren were amazed at their unanimity. But the envious enemy of the human race managed to sow enmity between them, and so darkened them with anger and hatred that they could not even look at each other without vexation. The brothers' advice to make peace was in vain. One day the priest Titus fell ill. He began to cry bitterly about his sin and sent to his enemy to ask for forgiveness; but Evagrius did not want to hear about it and began to cruelly curse him. The brothers forcibly drew him to the dying man. Titus, with the help of others, got up from his bed and fell on his knees in front of him, tearfully begging to forgive him, but Evagrius was so inhuman that he exclaimed: “Neither in this nor in the future life do I want to be reconciled with him.” Having said these words, Evagrius broke free from the hands of the brethren and fell to the ground dead. At the same time, priest Titus got up from his bed completely healthy and said: during my illness, I saw angels retreating from me and crying, and unclean spirits rejoicing over my death. When Evagrius began to curse me here too, I saw that one formidable angel struck him with a flaming spear, and the unfortunate fell dead; this same angel gave me his hand and raised me from my sickbed.”
- From the life of St. Seraphim of Sarov, it is known that when he was a boy of 6-7 years old, he fell from the top of the bell tower of the Kazan Cathedral under construction in Kursk, i.e. from a height of approximately the fifth or sixth floor of a modern house, and remained completely unharmed. The monk himself testified that he was preserved by a guardian angel.
All of the above about angels reveals to us the secret of the complete involvement of the two worlds, angelic and human, and their dual unity. As a second creation, having not only a soul, but also a body, created in the image and likeness of God, exalted by the God-man Christ to the throne of God the Father, and having singled out from its depths the Most Honest Cherub and the Most Glorious Seraphim without comparison, humanity at this time is the pinnacle of creation. It cannot be said about it that it exists for the angelic world, while the angelic world - the ministering spirits - were also created in part to serve humanity. This is a bright joy for Christian believers, but also their great responsibility before God. And how wonderful and comforting it is to realize that in angels we have faithful friends, mentors, helpers and guardians of our souls and bodies.
Holy archangels and angels, pray to God for us sinners! Amen.
Archbishop Seraphim of Chicago
Angels play an important role in the life of a religious person. People turn to them for help and always hope for heavenly protection, protecting them from the misfortunes and evils of earthly existence. Angels are considered disembodied spirits who are endowed with reason and free individual will.
These creatures consciously chose the path of humble service to the Almighty. The colossal role of participants in the universal fishery rests on the shoulders of angels.
Creation of the Angelic World
The book of Genesis states that in the very beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
World creation
The heavens are inhabited by holy angels and archangels, who arose in the first act of the Triune deity. For universal grace, the Almighty did not have enough contemplation of Himself, so the motive for the development of good arose. God invented angelic powers, and his thought became action and was fulfilled by the Word.
- Heavenly messengers, in eternal service of the Almighty God, descend on our planet to help righteous people.
- Angels, created simultaneously before the beginning of the material world, reside in the abode of God. The fallen celestials lost their own privilege of close communication with the Creator. Theologians count about a third of the total number of originally created angels.
- Their nature is purely spiritual, although it does not reach the perfection of the Most High. Angels have no flesh or body. The Church often calls them “second lights,” which is regarded as a commitment to eternal Truth and divine providence.
- After the victory over the fallen traitors led by Lucifer, the heavenly angels, born free, only strengthened in their own faith and love for the Almighty. They completely conquered the tendency to sinfulness and firmly established themselves in virtue. This characteristic significantly distinguishes bright angels from most people.
- An accurate description of celestial creatures is not an easy matter, since they belong to the realm of ethereal spaces. Appearing before people, these creatures transform in such a way that our consciousness can see them.
- Celestials have no gender, age, and do not change at all under the influence of time. Angels move rapidly through the layers of space, having the ability to appear anywhere in the Universe. There are no physical obstacles for them. While protecting people on earth, they at the same time eternally contemplate the beauties of Truth.
- The number of these divine creations does not change because they do not reproduce and do not have the need to do so. The Lord created a certain number of them, and the same number of angels will remain at the end of time.
- The Holy Scriptures state: the heavenly defenders do not know the date of the Last Judgment of sinners, but they will appear as just executors of the Will of the Lord. Their task will be to separate righteousness from evil intentions.
- Angels sincerely rejoice when sinners are corrected and take the righteous path. They are interested in fulfilling God's Will, and are not indifferent in this regard. These creations accompany human souls to another world and never leave them there.
- The power of the holy angels and archangels is compared to the power of an entire army. The Holy Scriptures confirm this point of view with the titles possessed by the heavenly protectors (Dominions, Principalities, etc.).
Dionysius the Areopagite, a disciple of the Christian Apostle Paul, wrote about the structure of the angelic world. He asserts that the Hierarchy consists of three faces, which, in turn, is divided into three ranks.
Holy Hierarchy of Heavenly Creatures
- The upper class includes the powerful Seraphim, Cherubim and valiant Thrones.
- The middle level consists of Dominances, Powers and Powers.
- The youngest link was organized from the Principles and the well-known Archangels and Angels.
First face
The name Seraphim is translated as “fiery.” They stand directly and eternally before Him Who is true Love. The Throne of the Lord radiates fiery purity, and the Seraphim literally burn with devotion to the Almighty. The Book of Isaiah says that they have six wings and constantly glorify the Lord of hosts. John the Theologian in his “Apocalypse” adds that these creatures are endowed with four different faces, directed in all directions. They have the power to heal sin with just one touch.
archangel Michael
Seraphim generate fiery love around the Almighty with their own lightning-fast movements.
The second rank includes the Cherubim, their clothes are decorated with shiny precious stones. David speaks of them as beings who carry the Lord on their body. They are often depicted with a flaming sword, suggesting their role as protectors of the entrance to Eden or paradise.
Some Christian researchers saw in them only a symbol and image of the protection of the Heavenly Abode. But in the 2nd century, Clement considers the Cherubim as “song-speaking spirits,” and two centuries later, John Chrysostom mentions that their body is filled with eyes (that is, wisdom).
Below in rank are the Thrones - holy spirits without flesh, the Scriptures mention them on their pages. Based on the name, Christian scholars hypothesize that the Almighty sits on these creations as if on a throne.
Second face
The Dominions belong to the second triad in the angelic hierarchy. This name in the Old Testament is applied to the forces that control the movement of the heavenly bodies. Dominions are mentioned by the Apostle Paul and in the letter to the Ephesians. Their life is characterized by righteousness and the ability to control feelings.
Archangel Michael
Through the office called Powers, the Lord performs signs and wonders for his own glory and to help those in need. The Apostle Peter mentions them.
The authorities who control the actions of the devil belong to the lowest rank. They always defeat dark forces, protect a person from temptations and strengthen faith in the Lord.
Third face
This stage is headed by the Angels-Principals, the inhabitants of the spiritual, invisible space. They have a power that extends to Mercury. The task of the Beginnings is concerned with the purpose of this or that historical period until the moment when humanity is no longer tied to the Earth.
The Orthodox tradition mentions seven archangels. Angels (messengers) are disembodied spirits closest to humans. Among these creatures is the Guardian Angel of each of us. They are able to understand any language and have a keen sense of needs, averting troubles and threats from the righteous.
On a note! The spiritual experience of some enlightened people confirms that during life a person is accompanied by two angels. They appear and reveal themselves only at the moment of death. The disciple of Saint Macarius spoke about these facts, and the appearance of two heavenly messengers is described in the life of Basil the New.
Activities of Angels
Man knows very little about the heavenly world, but from what has been previously told, it is known that the life of these creatures is varied and noble. The Almighty assigned a special mission to each of the ranks. Guardian Angels, for example, are obliged to accompany sinful people along a difficult path and bring them to the light of Truth. In the Scriptures we often see how our defenders shed tears when they see the fall of their charges.
Guardian angel
However, in the etheric regions there is practically no place for sadness, because the inhabitants understand and contemplate the eternal beauty of the Creator, spreading love throughout the universe. In the mountainous regions, as well as on the sinful earth, the divine liturgy is performed, where the symbolic slaughter of a lamb takes place for the salvation of all souls. In rituals performed by disembodied spirits, praises and thanksgivings are made to the Highest Light, as well as petitions for the human race, mired in the needs of its own flesh.
Angels are constantly present at Liturgies conducted by earthly priests in churches. The texts of the prayers clearly indicate this circumstance. Parishioners are sure that at divine services the angels glorify the Pantocrator of hosts.
The Church states: a guardian angel is given to a person at the act of conception, and he begins his own activity only after the Sacrament of Baptism. Some of the heavenly protectors look after not just one person, but entire groups or nations. However, our sinful acts drive away the guardians, so we have to ask the Lord for forgiveness so that he can restore peace of mind to the soul, which is only possible in the presence of an angel.
What are Angels for?
Angels are disembodied spirits living in areas inaccessible to the human eye. The Almighty created them to spread good around himself. However, some of them rebelled and were turned into demons of the underworld.
It is necessary to understand that the guardian is the most faithful and noble friend.
Advice! You need to learn to communicate with him and listen to wise instructions. After a conversation with him, a rational thought is born in my head, which brings sufficient satisfaction in a given period of time.
A constant reminder of the presence of an angel nearby stimulates a righteous life.
Prayers to ethereal forces:
The fact of the service of these creatures allows us to put forward the opinion that human nature is potentially superior. After all, it is only about us that it is said that we were created in the image and likeness of God. And only the Son descended into human society to atone for sins, but did not go to the fallen demons for the sake of their salvation.
It is not possible to find an exact statement on this issue.
Video about the angelic world in Orthodoxy
The word “Angel” is Greek and means messenger. The Angels received this name from their service to the salvation of the human race, for which they are used by the All-Good God and which they perform with holy zeal and love. The Apostle Paul said: “Are not all souls of service sent into service for those who want to inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14).
Thus, “the Angel Gabriel was quickly sent 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 was chosen to be the Mother of the Word of God, who receives humanity for the redemption of humanity. So, the Angel of the Lord at night opened the doors of the prison in which the twelve apostles were imprisoned by envious Jews, and, bringing them out, said: “Go and speak to the people in the church all the words of this life” (Acts 5:20), that is, the teaching of Christ, which is life. Another time, an Angel brought the Apostle Peter out of prison, who had been thrown there by the wicked King Herod, who had already killed the Apostle James Zebedee and wanted to amuse the murderous Jewish people with a second execution that was pleasant for him. The Apostle, miraculously delivered from prison, convinced that he was not seeing a vision, but the deed itself, said: “Now truly we know that God has sent His angel, and has taken me out of the hand of Herod and from all the hope of the people of the Jews” (Acts 12:11) . However, the ministry of the Angels does not consist in promoting the salvation of the human race alone: but from this ministry they received their name among people, and this name was given to them by the Holy Spirit in the Holy Scriptures.
The time of the creation of Angels is not defined definitively 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 ourselves created in wonderful grace and bliss; what gratitude, reverence and love they felt for the Creator, who together gave them existence and spiritual pleasure! Their continuous occupation became contemplation and praise of the Creator. The Lord Himself said about them: “When the stars were created, you My angels praised Me with a great voice” (Job 38:7). These words of Holy Scripture most clearly prove that the Angels were created before the world we see and, being present at its creation, glorified the wisdom and power of the Creator. They were created, like the visible world, by the Word of God: “By this,” says the holy Apostle Paul, “all things were created, both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, whether dominions, whether principalities, whether powers: all kinds of By this I also agreed about Him” (Col. 1:16).
Here the Apostle, under the name of thrones, dominions, principalities and authorities, means the various ranks of Angels. The Holy Church recognizes three such ranks; Each rank, or hierarchy, consists of three ranks.
The first hierarchy consists of Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones; the second - Dominance, Strength and Authority; the third - Principalities, Archangels and Angels.
The doctrine of this division of Angels was set forth by Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, a disciple of the Holy Apostle Paul, who, as we have seen, names some ranks in his writings. Those closest to the Throne of God are the six-winged Seraphim, as the prophet Saint Isaiah saw in his vision. “I have seen,” he says, “the Lord sitting on the throne, high and exalted, and the house is filled with His glory. And the Seraphim stood around Him, six kril to one, and six kril to another: and two were the veils of their faces, and two were the veils of their feet, and two were the veils of the fly. And I cried to one another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is filled with His glory” (Isa. 6:1-3).
According to the Seraphim, the God-wise, many-eyed Cherubim stand before the Throne of God, then the Thrones and, in order, the other angelic ranks. The Angels stand before the Throne of God with great reverent fear, which is poured into them by the incomprehensible greatness of the Divine, not with the fear that repentant sinners feel and which is taken away by love, but with the fear that endures for centuries and constitutes one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit - the fear that God is terrible for everyone around Him. From the unceasing contemplation of the immeasurable greatness of God, they are in an unceasing blissful frenzy and rapture and express it with unceasing praise. They burn with love for God and in self-forgetfulness, in which they exist in God, and no longer in themselves, they find inexhaustible and endless pleasure. In accordance with their ranks, they are endowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of wisdom and reason. The spirit of advice and strength. The Spirit of the Fear of God.
This variety of spiritual gifts and different degrees of perfection do not at all 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 jealousy show obedience to the Angels of the highest 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 happen to Jerusalem. We also read in Daniel’s prophecy that the Angel commands the Angel to interpret the vision to the Prophet.”
In general, all 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 who 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 classifies them as 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, lies in the mind, from which it is born and in which thought is contained, and from which comes the spirit, which promotes thought and animates it. This image, like the Prototype, is invisible, just as it is invisible in people.
He controls the whole being in the Angel as well as in man. Angels are creatures limited by time and space, therefore, having their own external appearance. Only nothing and an infinite being can be formless: an infinite being is 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 limited beings, the greatest and the smallest, no matter how subtle, have their limits. These limits, or ends of a being, constitute its outline, and where there is an outline, there is certainly a view, even if we do not see it with our crude 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 infinite space, they occupy a certain space, corresponding to their elasticity, that is, the ability to expand and contract.
God alone is formless, as an infinite being. In relation to us, Angels are called disembodied and spirits. But we, humans, in our state of fall, cannot in any way be taken as the basis for forming correct concepts about the visible and invisible world. We are not what we were created to be; and again renewed by repentance, we become different from what we are in an ordinary passionate state. We are an unstable and incorrect measure. But it is precisely by this standard that Angels are called incorporeal, immaterial, spirits. ( From the book of St. Ignatius Bryanchinov )
Angels in Scripture
What can we say about Angels? What are our literary sources? Naturally, Holy Scripture. Our Russian word “Angel” itself is in fact not a Russian word at all, but the Greek “ἄγγελος”, 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 “malakh”. This word also means “messenger” and comes from a Hebrew root that means the verb “to send.” What can we conclude from this? The word "Angel" does not describe to us the nature of these creatures. What kind of spirits these are, what their nature is, we cannot say. We can only say of 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 meanings. On the one hand, this is the message of God as such, impersonal, addressed to man, on the other hand, the word “malakh” can designate a living being, the spirit that transmits this message.
In the Holy Scriptures, among other things, the word “Angel” can be used to refer not only to disembodied spirits, but also to prophets. Before you is the icon “John the Baptist 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 whom it is written: Behold, I send My angel before You, who will prepare Your way before You.” Here you go, we call John the Baptist “Angel, Messenger.”
Another word that is used to designate heavenly spirits is אלוהים “Elohim.” If you open the first Book of Holy Scripture, the Book of Genesis, in Hebrew, in the first chapter, the first verse: “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 both to designate God, along with "Yahweh", and to designate Angels.
Angels in the Old Testament
An important role in the development of the doctrine of angels was played by the ancient Jewish apocrypha, called the Book of Enoch. This is a work of the 3rd-2nd century BC. The Apostle Jude in particular refers to this book in his epistle (verse 14), quoting it: “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them, saying: “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand times His holy angels...”. The same text is mentioned by ancient writers, by Origen, by Tertullian, and until the late Middle Ages the Book of Enoch was very popular. But what’s interesting is that its text was unknown to us until the 18th century. It was preserved 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 Gyiz language. Let me remind you that 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 preaches the gospel
Zechariah about the coming birth of John the Baptist, preaches to the Virgin Mary about the coming birth from Her of the Savior of the world. And also the Resurrection, Ascension and most other events of Sacred history take place in the presence of Angels. In the Book of the Acts of the Apostles we also meet Angels, for example, an Angel leads Peter out of prison. We'll talk about this later. So, in the New Testament, in addition to the mention of the word “Angel” itself, for the first time we meet the mention of Archangels. Archangel in both Latin and Greek means “chief of angels.” We'll talk about them a little later too. In addition, the Apostle Paul, in his letters to the Romans, Ephesians and Colossians, also mentions such Heavenly Powers as Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers and Powers.
Angelic world
We also know about the angelic world that there was a fall of some angels. We can read 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 matter of our salvation, we will find practically no mention of this in the Holy Scriptures. The Apostle Jude says (1:6): “God reserves the angels who did not retain their dignity, but left their habitation, in everlasting 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 fall from heaven like lightning.” It is believed that the fall of the angels did not occur simultaneously, that Dennitsa fell first and carried away countless angels. There is a legend that the end of the world will come when the number of righteous people replaces 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 is translated as “the one who resists,” this is not a personal name.
The Nature of Angels
In the Holy Scriptures, angels appear to us as rational 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 expression of will. John of Damascus gives the following definition of an angel: “An angel is a rational nature, endowed with intelligence and free will.” The same John of Damascus testifies to the incomprehensibility of angelic nature: “Only the Creator 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 does not have flesh and bones,” we read in the Gospel of Luke (24:39). According to the interpretation of the Holy Fathers, the sensory images in which Angels appear (numerous phenomena are described in Sacred History, in the Old and New Testaments) are not a reflection of their nature, but only their temporary state.
Blessed Theodoret explains: “we know that the nature of angels is incorporeal; they take on images, in accordance with the benefit of those who see,” so that the one looking at them will not be afraid, but at the same time understand that in front of them is not an ordinary person, but truly a messenger of the Lord. St. John of Damascus says: “Angels, appearing, according to the will of God, to worthy people, do not appear as they are in themselves, but are transformed in accordance with how those who look can see them.”
We can also say about the relationship of Angels to space and time that they, in the words of John of Damascus, “are not restrained by walls, doors, locks, or seals... and reside in places comprehended only by the mind.” Numerous testimonies from both the Holy Scriptures 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 greater freedom than humans in relation to space and time.
The perfection of the Angelic nature is expressed in their special approach to God. They are endowed with the highest knowledge and understanding, but not omniscient, like the Lord God. Only part of the knowledge that they possess is revealed to angels, and thanks to which, according to apocryphal texts, they control the Universe. The Holy Fathers also raise the question of the relationship between Angel and man: who is more worthy in his calling? There are two points of view on this matter. On the one hand, we can say that the Angel is certainly more majestic and his nature is more perfect than human nature. On the other hand, many holy fathers claim that Angels are inferior to man because, unlike him, they 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 many holy fathers insist on this as a matter of principle. John of Damascus speaks of the Lord: “The Creator of Angels, who brought them from non-existent into being and created them in His image” and denounces those who “call angels creators of whatever nature... For... Angels are not creators.”
About the number of angels we can only say that it is limited, but very large. The prophet Daniel (7:10) describes the angelic army as “thousands of thousands and tens of thousands” (that’s millions and tens of millions). Cyril of Jerusalem wrote about it this way: “Imagine people, starting from Adam to this day: their multitude is great, but it is still small in comparison with the Angels, who are more numerous. There are ninety-nine sheep; and the human race is but one sheep.” Here Cyril of Jerusalem refers us to the parable told by the Lord that the good shepherd leaves 99 sheep for the sake of one lost 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, incarnate, leaves the perfect world, the Divine world, leaves the Angelic world faithful to Him and goes down for one fallen sheep - in order to save humanity. Before you is the Sucevita Monastery in Romania, a painting on the outer wall of the temple that depicts the Ladder of John Climacus. This is a clear attempt by the artist to depict the countless celestial powers.
What is the ministry of angels? This, naturally, is serving God, chanting His greatness and fulfilling His will, because... Angels are ministering spirits and their purpose is to serve God. If we remember the book of the prophet Isaiah (6:2-3), it talks about his vision of the Lord sitting on the throne, and in front of the throne stood the seraphim, 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 as 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 includes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the salvation of Lot and his daughters, whom the Angels lead from the destroyed city. This is also 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 the Angels and their fulfillment of the will of God. One type of indirect service of angels to God can be the service of Guardian Angels. After baptism, each person is assigned a Guardian Angel, who must lead the soul of this person to salvation. This also reveals the Providence of God, which means this is one of the options for serving angels to God. In ancient times, it was believed that cities, kingdoms, and nations also had Guardian Angels. In particular, the Archangel Michael was considered the patron saint of the Jewish people. By the way, Guardian Angels of private individuals are mentioned in the Holy Scriptures in the Gospel of Matthew (18:10): “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell 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 meeting of Christians 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 Peter’s Angel, and not Peter himself.
How angels are portrayed 
The classic vestment of an angel is a chiton, a himation (a cloak thrown over the chiton). The 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. There must be a rod, a sphere or a globe, or a mirror (called differently). Since angels are the leaders of the heavenly army, since they are the guards of the throne of God, they are often depicted in court robes.
Angelic ranks
From the Holy Scriptures it follows that there are different orders of angels. The Holy Scriptures mention 9 ranks of angels.
Seraphim
Of all the ranks of heaven, the Seraphim are the closest to God; they are the first participants in divine bliss, the first to shine with the light of the magnificent divine glory. And what amazes them most about God is His endless, eternal, immeasurable, unsearchable love. In all their strength, in all their incomprehensible depths, they perceive and feel God precisely as Love, through this they approach, as it were, the very doors, the very Holy of Holies of that “impregnable Light” in which God lives (1 Tim. 6:16 ), through this entering into the closest, most sincere communication with God, for God Himself is Love: “The 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 expanse, you think about its bottomless depth, and... the thought is lost, the heart freezes, the whole being is filled with some kind of sacred awe and horror; I want to prostrate myself and close myself before the clearly felt, boundless greatness of God, reflected by the vastness of the sea. Here is some, albeit the weakest, resemblance, a barely noticeable, subtle shadow of what the Seraphim experience, constantly contemplating the immeasurable, unsearchable sea of Divine love.
God-Love is a consuming fire, and the Seraphim, constantly tapping into this fiery Divine Love, are filled with the fire of the Divine above all other ranks. Seraphim - and the word itself means: fiery, fiery. Fiery burning Divine Love, by the unsearchableness of Its mercy, the immensity of Its condescension towards all creatures, and most of all towards the human race, for the sake of which this Love humbled itself even to the cross and death, always leads the Seraphim into indescribable sacred awe, plunges them into horror, makes everything tremble their being. They cannot bear this great Love. They cover their faces with two wings, their feet with two wings, and fly with two wings, in fear and trembling, in the deepest reverence, singing, crying, crying out and saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts!” 
Burning with love for God, the six-winged Seraphim ignite the fire of this love in the hearts of others, purifying the soul with divine fire, filling it with strength and strength, inspiring it to preach - with the verb to burn the hearts of people. Thus, when the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, seeing the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, surrounded by Seraphim, began to lament his uncleanness, exclaiming: “Oh, accursed Az! For I am a man with unclean lips... - and my eyes saw the King, the Lord of Hosts!.. Then, - the prophet himself says. 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 it will take away your iniquity and cleanse your sins” (Is. 6: 5-7).
Cherubim
If for the Seraphim God appears as fiery burning Love, then for the Cherubim God appears as luminous Wisdom. The cherubim constantly delve into the divine mind, praise it, glorify it in their songs, contemplate the divine mysteries, and penetrate them with trepidation. That is why, according to the testimony of the Word of God, in the Old Testament the Cherubim are depicted touching the Ark of the Covenant. 
“And make,” the Lord said to Moses, “of gold two Cherubim... Make them at both ends of the lid (of the Ark). Make one Cherubim on one side, and another Cherubim on the other side... And the Cherubim will have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces will be towards each other, and the faces of the Cherubim will be towards the mercy seat” (Ex. 25:18-20) .
Marvelous image! So it is in heaven: the Cherubim look with tenderness and fear at the Divine Wisdom, explore it, learn from it, and, as it were, cover its secrets with their wings, keep them, protect them, and revere them. And this reverence for the mysteries of Divine Wisdom is so great among the Cherubim that all daring inquisitiveness, all proud looking at the Mind of God is immediately cut off by them with a fiery sword.
Remember the Fall of Adam: the forefathers, contrary to the commandment of God, boldly approached the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, became proud of their minds, and wanted to know everything like God; they set out, as it were, to tear off the veil hiding the secrets of Divine Wisdom. And, look, now one of the guardians of these secrets, one of the servants of God’s Wisdom - the Cherub, descends from heaven, with a flaming reversing sword, expels the ancestors from paradise. So great is the jealousy of the Cherubim, so strict are they towards those who dare to boldly penetrate into 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 piece of grass or one blade of grass is enough to occupy our whole thought by considering the art with which it was produced,” then what can we say about that abyss of wisdom that is revealed to the Cherubim? The Wisdom of God, as if imprinted in a mirror in the visible world, the Wisdom of God in the entire construction of our redemption, is all “the manifold Wisdom of God,... hidden in secret, which God hath before ordained before the world for our glory” (Eph. 3:10; 1 Cor. 2:7)…
Thrones
You, of course, know what a throne is, with what meaning do we often use this word? They say, for example, “The Tsar’s Throne” or “The Tsar’s Throne”, “The Tsar spoke from the height of the Throne.” With this they want to show dignity and royal greatness.
The throne, thus, is the personification of royal greatness, royal dignity. So in heaven there are their own Thrones, not our material, soulless ones, made of gold, silver, bone or wood and serving only as symbols, but reasonable Thrones, living bearers of the greatness of God, the glory of God. The thrones, especially in front of all ranks of angels, feel and contemplate God as the King of Glory, the King of the entire universe, the King who creates justice and righteousness, the King of Kings, as “the Great, Mighty and Terrible God” (Deut. 10:17). “Lord, Lord, who is like You?” (Ps. 35:10)… “Who is like You in God? Lord, whoever is like You is glorified in the saints, wondrous in glory” (Ex. 15:11). “Great is the Lord and greatly praised, and His greatness has no end” (Ps. 144:3)... “Great and has no end, high and immeasurable” (Bar. 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.
The Thrones not only feel and sing of the greatness of God, but they themselves are filled with this greatness and glory, and they let others feel it, pouring, as if into the hearts of men, waves of greatness and glory of the Divine that fill them.
There are moments when a person somehow especially clearly recognizes with his mind and with some special strength feels in his heart the greatness of God: the peals of thunder, the flash of lightning, marvelous views of nature, high mountains, wild rocks, worship in some magnificent large temple - everything this often so captivates the soul, so strikes the strings of the heart, that a person is ready to compose and sing psalms and songs of praise; before the perceived greatness of God he disappears, is lost, falls on his face. Know, beloved, such holy moments of a clear sense of the greatness of God do not happen without the influence of the Thrones. It is they who, as it were, join us to their mood, throw its sparkles into our hearts.
Domination
God is called Lord because He cares about the world He created, provides for it, and is its Supreme Owner. “He,” says Blessed Theodoret, “is himself both a shipbuilder and a gardener, who increased matter. He created matter, built the ship, and constantly controls its helm.” “From the shepherd,” teaches St. Ephraim the Syrian, - the flock depends, and everything that grows on earth depends on God. In the will of the farmer is the separation of wheat from thorns, in the will of God is the prudence of those living on earth in their mutual unity and like-mindedness. It is in the will of the king to arrange regiments of soldiers, in the will of God there is a definite charter for everything.” So, notes another teacher of the Church, “neither on earth nor in heaven is nothing left 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 like each one separately, according to its nature and purpose.” And “not for a single day does God cease from the work of governing creatures, so that they do not immediately deviate from their natural paths, by which they are led and directed to achieve the fullness of their development, and each to remain in its own kind what it is.”
Now, it is into this domination, into this management of God’s creatures, into this care and providence of God for everything invisible and visible, small and great, that the Dominions delve into.
For the Seraphim, God is fiery burning Love; for the Cherubim I will take out luminous Wisdom; for Thrones God is the King of Glory; for the Dominions, God is the Lord Provider. Above all other ranks of Lordship, they contemplate God precisely as a Provider, they glorify His care for the world: they see “his way in the sea, and his strong path in the waves” (Wisdom 14:3), they look with fear at how “he will change the times and summer, he appoints kings and marks” (Dan. 2:21). Full of sacred delight and tenderness, the Lord plunges into the manifold concerns of God: He dresses the villages, “as Solomon in all his glory was clothed, as one of these” (Matthew 6:29), as He dresses “the heavens with the clouds, He prepares rain for the earth.” , grows grass and grain on the mountains for the service of man: he gives their food to the cattle, and to the chicks of the corvids that call upon Him” (Ps. 147:7-9). 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 a Provider - the Builder of the world, Dominion and people are taught to arrange themselves, their souls; teach us to take care of the soul, to provide for it; inspire a person to dominate his passions, over various sinful habits, to oppress the flesh, giving space to the spirit. The Lords must be prayerfully invoked to help anyone who wants to free themselves from any passion, wants to dominate it, or give up any bad habit, but cannot do this due to weakness of will.
Powers
Above all other ranks, this rank of angels contemplates God as working many powers or miracles. For the Powers, God is a Miracle Worker. “You are the God who works miracles” (Ps. 76:15) - this is what constitutes the subject of their constant praise and praise. The forces delve into how “where God wants the order of nature to be overcome.” Oh, how ecstatic, how solemn, how wondrous these songs must be! If we, clothed in flesh and blood, when we witness any obvious miracle of God, for example, the sight of a blind man, the restoration of a hopelessly ill person, we come into indescribable delight and awe, we are amazed, we are touched, then what can we say about the Powers when they are given to see such miracles that our minds cannot even imagine. Moreover, they can delve into the very depths of these miracles, their highest goal is revealed to them.
Authorities
The angels belonging to this rank contemplate and glorify God as the Almighty, “having all power in heaven and on earth.” God of the terrible, “His sight dries up the abysses, and the reproach melts away the mountains, who walked as if on dry land on the sheets of the sea, and forbade the storms of the winds; touching the mountains and smoking; calling on the water of the sea and pouring it out on the face of all the earth.”
Angels of the sixth rank are the closest, constant witnesses of God's omnipotence; they are given the opportunity to feel it preferably before others. From constant contemplation of Divine power, from constant contact with it, these fulfilling angels are imbued with this power just as red-hot iron is imbued with fire, which is why they themselves become bearers of this power and are called: Power. The power with which they are invested and filled is unbearable for the devil and all his hordes; this power turns the devilish hordes to flight, to the underworld, to pitch darkness, to Tartarus.
That is why everyone tormented by the devil must prayerfully call on the Authority for help; for all those possessed by demons, various epileptics, whoremongers, and the corrupted - we must daily pray to the Authorities: “Holy Authorities, by the authority given to you by God, drive away from the servant of God (name) or the servant of God (name) the demon that is tormenting him (or her)!”
Beginnings
These angels are so called because God entrusted them with authority over the elements of nature: over water, fire, wind, “over animals, plants and generally over all visible objects.” “Creator and Builder of the world. God,” says the Christian teacher Athenagoras, “placed 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 Principles, and directed according to the will of God. It is known, for example, that lightning often burns blasphemers; hail destroys one field, leaves another unharmed... Who gives such a reasonable direction to a soulless, unreasonable element? Starters are doing it.
“I saw,” says the seer of St. John the Theologian, - a mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed in a cloud; over his head was a rainbow, and his face was like the sun... And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried out with a loud voice, like a lion roars; and when he cried, then the seven thunders spoke with their voices” (Rev. 10:1-3); The Apostle John saw and heard both the “angel of the water” (Rev. 16:5) and the “angel who has authority over the fire” (Rev. 14:18). “I saw,” the same saint testifies. John, - four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that the wind would not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree... - they were given power to harm the earth and the sea” (Rev. 7:1-2 ).
The principles also have authority over entire nations, cities, kingdoms, and human societies. In the word of God there is, for example, a mention of a prince or angel of the kingdom of Persia, the kingdom of Greece (Dan. 10:13, 20). The principles, entrusted to their superiors, lead the peoples to the highest good goals, which are indicated and destined by the Lord Himself; “They are erecting,” according to St. Dionysius the Areopagite, - how many can those who willingly obey them, to God, as to their Beginning.” They intercede for their people before the Lord, “instill,” notes one saint, “in people, especially kings and other rulers, thoughts and intentions related to the good of the people.”
Archangels
This rite, says St. Dionysius of teaching." Archangels are heavenly teachers. What do they teach? They teach people how to organize their lives according to God, that is, in accordance with the will of God.
Different paths of life are before a person: there is the monastic path, the path of marriage, there are various types of service. What to choose, what to decide on, what to stop at? This is where the Archangels come to the aid of man. The Lord reveals His will about man to them. The Archangels know, therefore, what awaits a famous person on this or that path of life: what adversities, temptations, seductions; therefore, they deviate from one path, and direct a person to another, teach him to choose the right path suitable for him.
Whoever is broken in life, hesitates, does not know which way to go, he must call on the Archangels for help, so that they teach him how he should live: “Archangels of God, appointed by God Himself for our teaching and admonition, teach me which path to choose.” “I’ll go ahead and please my God!”
Angels
These are the closest to us. The Angels continue what the Archangels begin: the Archangels teach man to recognize the will of God, put him on the path of life indicated by God; Angels lead a person along this path, guide, protect the walker so that he does not deviate to the side, strengthen the exhausted, and raise the falling.
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, “the whole air is filled with angels”; Angels, according to the same saint, “stand before the priest during the performance of the terrible Sacrifice.”
Guardian angel
From among the angels, the Lord, from the moment of our baptism, assigns to each of us another special angel, who is called the Guardian Angel. This Angel loves us as much as no one on earth can love. The Guardian Angel is our close friend, an invisible, quiet interlocutor, a sweet comforter. He wishes only one thing for each of us - the salvation of the soul; This is where he directs all his worries. And if he sees us also caring about salvation, he rejoices, but if he sees us being careless about our souls, he grieves.
Do you want to always be with an Angel? Flee from sin, and the Angel will be with you. “Just as,” says Basil the Great, “bees are driven away by smoke and doves by stench, so the Guardian of our life, the Angel, is driven away by lamentable and stinking sin.” Therefore, be afraid to sin!
Is it possible to recognize the presence of a Guardian Angel when he is near us and when he moves away from us? It is possible, according to the inner mood of your soul. When your soul is light, your heart is light, quiet, peaceful, when your mind is occupied with thoughts of God, when you repent and are touched, then it means that an Angel is nearby. “When, according to the testimony of John Climacus, at some utterance of your prayer you feel inner pleasure or tenderness, then stop over it. For then the Guardian Angel prays with you.” When there is a storm in your soul, passions in your heart, and your mind is arrogant, then you know that the Guardian Angel has left you, and instead of him a demon has approached you. Hurry, hurry, then call your Guardian Angel, kneel before the icons, fall on your face, pray, make the sign of the cross, cry. Believe, your Guardian Angel will hear your prayer, come, drive away the demon, say to your troubled soul, to your overwhelmed heart: “Be silent, stop.” And great silence will come within you. Oh, Guardian Angel, always protect us from the storm, in the silence of Christ!
Why, someone will ask, is it impossible to see the Angel, cannot speak, talk with him the way we talk with each other? Why can't an Angel appear visibly? Therefore, so as not to frighten or confuse us with his appearance, for he knows how cowardly, fearful and timid we are in front of everything mysterious.
Angel's 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 a particular saint. The day of remembrance of the saint whose name an Orthodox Christian bears is called: Angel Day, or.
After the sacrament of baptism is performed, the saint whose name is chosen for the child or adult being baptized becomes his heavenly patron. You yourself can choose from among several saints the one who is especially close to you. If you don’t 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, - Fyodor of Edessa teaches us, - one of whom - the Guardian Angel - protects us from all evil, from various misfortunes and helps us 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 and pleasing to God, are more likely to be accepted than our sinners.
Angels“, being servants 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 assist us in all good.”
“The saints,” wrote the Monk Silouan of Athos, “see our life and our deeds in the Holy Spirit. 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 exhausted we are from sorrows, how our souls have dried up, how despondency has bound them, and, without ceasing, they intercede for us before God.”
The name given to a person at baptism no longer changes, except in a few, very rare cases, such as, for example, when taking monastic vows. The name given to a person at baptism remains with him throughout the rest of his life, and he passes into the next world with it; 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 do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”(Matt. 18:10).
Troparion, tone 6
Angel of God, my holy guardian, keep my life in the passion of Christ God, strengthen my mind in the true path, and wound my soul to heavenly love, so that I may be guided by you, I will receive great mercy from Christ God.
Glory, and now:
Theotokos
Holy Lady, Mother of Christ our God, who perplexedly gave birth to all the Creator, pray to His goodness always, with my guardian angel, to save my soul, obsessed with passions, and grant me remission of sins.
Canon, tone 8
Song 1
Let us praise the Lord, who led His people through the Red Sea, for He alone was gloriously glorified.
Sing and praise the song, Savior, worthy of Your servant, the disembodied Angel, my mentor and guardian.
Chorus: Holy Angel of God, my guardian, pray to God for me.
I am the only one lying in foolishness and laziness now, my mentor and guardian, do not leave me, perishing.
Glory: Direct my mind with your prayer, do God’s commandments, so that I may receive remission of sins from God, and teach me to hate the evil ones, I 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
You are the affirmation of those who flow to You, Lord, You are the light of the darkened, and my spirit sings of You.
I place all my thoughts and my soul on you, my guardian; Deliver me from every misfortune of the enemy.
The enemy tramples me, and embitters me, and teaches me to always do my own desires; but you, my mentor, do not leave me to perish.
Glory: Sing a song with thanksgiving and zeal to the Creator and God give me, and to you, my good guardian Angel: my deliverer, rescue me from the enemies who embitter me.
And now: Heal, Most Pure One, my many ailing scabs, even in the soul, heal the enemies who always fight with me.
Sedalen, voice 2
From the love of my soul I cry out to you, the guardian of my soul, my all-holy Angel: cover me and always protect me from evil deception, and guide me to heavenly life, admonishing and enlightening and strengthening me.
Glory, and now: Theotokos:
The Blessed Most Pure Mother of God, Who without seed gave birth to all the Lord, Pray Him with my Guardian Angel to deliver me from all bewilderment, and to give tenderness and light to my soul and purification through sin, Who alone will soon intercede.
Song 4
I heard, O Lord, Thy sacrament, I understood Thy works, and glorified Thy Divinity.
Pray to God, the Lover of Mankind, my guardian, and do not forsake me, but keep my life in peace forever and grant me invincible salvation.
As the intercessor and guardian of my life, you are received from God, Angel, I pray to you, holy one, free me from all troubles.
Glory: Cleanse my depravity with your shrine, my guardian, and may I be excommunicated from the part of Shuiya by your prayers and become a partaker of glory.
And now: I am bewildered by the evils that have befallen me, O Most Pure One, but deliver me from them quickly: I am the only one who has come to You.
Song 5
We cry out to You in the morning: Lord, save us; For you are our God, don’t you know anything else?
As if I had boldness towards God, my holy guardian, I begged Him to deliver me from the evils that offend me.
Bright light, brightly enlighten my soul, my mentor and guardian, given to me by God to the Angel.
Glory: Sleeping me with the evil burden of sin, keep me vigilant, Angel of God, and raise me up for praise through your prayer.
And now: Mary, Lady of the Brideless Mother of God, the hope of the faithful, lay down the heaps of the enemy, and those who sing make you glad.
Song 6
Give me a robe of light, dress yourself in light like a robe, O most merciful Christ our God.
Free me from all misfortunes, and save me from sorrows, I pray to you, holy Angel, given to me by God, my good guardian.
Illuminate my mind, O blessed one, and enlighten me, I pray to you, holy Angel, and always instruct me to think usefully.
Glory: Tidy my heart from real rebellion, and be vigilant, strengthen me in good things, my guardian, and guide me wonderfully to the silence of animals.
And now: the Word of God dwells in You, Mother of God, and man shows You the heavenly ladder; Because of you, the Most High has come down to us to eat.
Kontakion, tone 4
Appear to me, merciful, holy Angel of the Lord, my guardian, and do not separate from me, the foul one, but enlighten me with inviolable light and make me worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Ikos
My humble soul has been tempted by many, you, holy representative, vouchsafe the ineffable glory of heaven, and singer from the face of the disembodied powers of God, have mercy on me and preserve me, and enlighten my soul with good thoughts, so that with your glory, my Angel, I will be enriched, and overthrow the evil-minded enemies of me , and make me worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Song 7
The youths who came from Judea, in Babylon, sometimes, by the faith of the Trinity, quenched the fire of the cave, singing: God of the fathers, blessed art thou.
Be merciful to me and pray to God, O Lord Angel, for I have you as an intercessor in my whole life, a mentor and guardian, given to me by God forever.
Do not leave my accursed soul on its journey, killed by a robber, holy Angel, who was betrayed by God without blame; but I will guide you on the path of repentance.
Glory: I bring all my disgraced soul away from my evil thoughts and deeds: but first, my mentor, grant me healing with good thoughts, so that I always deviate onto the right path.
And now: Fill everyone with wisdom and Divine strength, Hypostatic Wisdom of the Most High, for the sake of the Mother of God, for the sake of those who cry out with faith: Our father, God, blessed art thou.
Song 8
Praise and exalt the Heavenly King, Whom all the angels sing, to all ages.
Sent from God, strengthen the belly of my servant, your servant, most blessed Angel, and do not leave me forever.
You are a good angel, my soul's mentor and guardian, most blessed, I sing for ever.
Glory: Be my protection and take away all people on the day of testing; good and evil deeds are tempted by fire.
And now: Be my helper and silence, O Ever-Virgin Mother of God, Thy servant, and do not leave me deprived of Thy dominion.
Song 9
We truly confess You, the Mother of God, saved by You, a pure Virgin, with your disembodied faces magnifying You.
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.
Grant me to think and create continually, O Lord Angel, who is good and useful, as she is strong in weakness and blameless.
Glory: Because you have boldness towards the Heavenly King, pray to Him, along with other incorporeal ones, to have mercy on me, the accursed one.
And now: Having much boldness, O Virgin, to Him who became incarnate from You, deliver me from my bonds and grant me permission and salvation through Your prayers.
Prayer to the Guardian Angel
Holy Angel of Christ, falling to you I pray, my holy guardian, given to me for the protection of my sinful soul and body from holy baptism, but with my laziness and my evil custom I angered your most pure lordship and drove you away from me with all the cold deeds: lies, slander , envy, condemnation, contempt, disobedience, brotherly hatred, and resentment, love of money, adultery, rage, stinginess, gluttony without satiety and drunkenness, verbosity, evil thoughts and crafty ones, proud custom and lustful indignation, driven by self-will for all carnal lust. Oh, my evil will, which even dumb animals cannot do! How can you look at me, or approach me like a stinking dog? Whose eyes, angel of Christ, look upon me, entangled in evil in vile deeds? How can I already ask for forgiveness with my bitter and evil and crafty deed, I fall into misery all day and night and at every hour? But I pray to you, falling down, my holy guardian, have mercy on me, your sinful and unworthy servant. (Name) Movies 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 a teacher at Sretensky Theological Seminary)
Orthodox stories. A story about angels and demons
we M. However, these centuries of centuries are still time and only time, although they have in their content a touch of eternity, eternal life, precisely in the form of eternal torment.” But it is still limited in duration, has its own completeness, and ends with the torment of the repentant Satan, who over the course of these “centuries” returns to what he was created for. But to be the supreme archangel, Dennitsa, is what the Creator called him to be.
However, it is obvious that as salvation with the forgiveness of the sins of the whole world, implanted [? - so in the book] by Satan, and even more so restoration - apokatastasis, is not feasible by a unilateral act, by created force alone, just as it was impossible in relation to man, who, needing the redemptive help of God, received it through the Incarnation in the cross death of the Son of God. Therefore, the question inevitably arises, which was put forward with such persistence by both (and, in essence, the only) theologians of apocatastasis, Origen and St. Gregory of Nyssa and they also affirmatively resolved: does the universal power of the atoning sacrifice made “for all and for all” also extend to demons? Or do we have to admit that it is limited, since it manifests itself only in relation to the earthly human world? But, obviously, it is impossible to allow any limitation in the power of the atoning sacrifice, as the Word of God proclaims this, testifying directly and undoubtedly: to the name of Jesus “every knee of heaven, earth and hell will bow - καταχθονίων (i.e. angels, men and demons), and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11, and "God will be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28). This confronts us with a general question about the significance of the incarnation for the angelic world (1). Although it does not directly relate to the world of the incorporeal, it indirectly has a decisive significance for it, due to the connection of the latter world with the human, in its co-humanity. We know from The Words of God, first of all from the Gospel, the full extent of the participation of angels in the events of the Incarnation, in particular, at the end of the century (2), and in general in that struggle for the “lost sheep” in which such an active participation of holy angels takes place, and it ends only in the parousia. Their participation in the Glory in which the Son of God comes is also connected with this.
(1) Jacob's Ladder, ch. VIII. "The Angelic World and the Incarnation."
(2) “So it will be at the end of the age: angels will come out and separate the wicked from among the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace (Matthew 13:49).
living (1), and in the life of the next century. However, one can ask: is this replenishment of angelic co-humanity, which is a consequence of human salvation through the incarnation, only its reflected consequence, or does it have a basis for itself in its own angelic, albeit incorporeal, but still created nature? This question should be answered in the affirmative, since angels also have created soulfulness. This is the potential of their life, realized to a greater or lesser extent, precisely in relation to man and his humanity. In Christ, through the incarnation of God, it reaches its fullness, which is revealed in the co-angelism of people, as well as the co-humanity of angels. Through this, the angelic world also becomes involved in the glorification of the God-man in Parousia, in which He comes into the world not alone, but all the holy angels with Him (as testified in the Gospel, Matthew 25:31). T. arr., St. angels have their share of participation in the salvific value of the atoning sacrifice (as is liturgically evidenced by their presence during the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice and their spiritual communion with us: “now the powers of heaven serve invisibly with us”) (2)
The power of the atoning sacrifice in relation to the fallen angelic world is realized, first of all, in its restoration through the revival of its created nature, namely its soulfulness. There is an analogy here with its saving effect on a person, although with an inevitable difference. It is for man that restoration refers to his entire created, spiritual and bodily composition, but for disembodied spirits only to his spiritual nature due to the absence of corporeality in it. However, the action of the atoning sacrifice cannot be limited here to the restoration of spirits to their original state through liberation from the darkness of sin. From the original state characteristic of fallen spirits even before the fall, they are separated by the entire life of the world with its sin, since the tempter and his armies are to blame for it. But not only was the world darkened by the blacks of the tempter, but the incarnation of God also took place in it, through which the world became different from what it was at creation. It has become the Kingdom of Christ, and there is no longer another beginning of existence in it. Therefore, the completeness of apocatastasis presupposes not only
(1) “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, Him the Son of Man will fast when He comes in His Glory and the Father (i.e., in the Holy Spirit) and the Holy Spirit. angels" (Luke 9:26) Here the Holy Spirit is very clearly indicated as the hypostatic Glory of the Father and the Son, communicated to the glorified creature in the person of the Holy One. angels.
(2) Wed. in the essay “The Eucharistic Sacrifice” (handwritten).
the separation of the world minus that was introduced by Satan, but also the introduction of the entire creation to this new being. Along with the abolition of the world failure created by Satan, his ascent to his prototype is not just a passive acceptance of forgiveness, but also an active ascent, a movement towards Christ of one who had within himself all the power of the Antichrist. This movement, about which we cannot know anything except this general theological postulate, requires for its possible implementation still new time, destined for that. The next “centuries of centuries” should therefore be devoted to this active overcoming of Satanism within himself. It is necessary, however, to remember that it will no longer be carried out by fallen spirits alone in their isolation, but together with the entire world, already free from the violent dominion of the “prince of this world.” And it is especially important to take into account that all St. the angels with Michael and his armies at the head, who once overthrew Satan from heaven, will also, not sparing their souls even to death, draw him again to the heaven of heaven, to the former place of his heavenly glory. The Word of God is silent about this, limiting its revelation only to the life of this age, but this necessarily follows from the general prophecies about universal deification and apocatastasis “God will be all in all.” And of course, the salvation and glorification of Satan is necessarily included in all of this. But here we are faced with another question.
The place of Dennitsa was occupied in his absence from heaven by the angel-man John, the Forerunner of the Lord, who, together with the Most Pure One, stands closest to the Lord of Glory (in Deisis), as being higher than the angels and greatest of those born of woman. However, is this a matter of selfishness pushing out its rival, or, on the contrary, is a new opportunity being prepared here for the work of self-denying, self-destructive, self-deprecating love (John 3:30)? Doesn’t John here, an angelic man by ministry, but still a man by natural nature, demonstrate the power of love for the one who, by creation, has an angelic nature, but also in its destiny for co-humanity, moreover, to the most extreme extent? Therefore, is it not natural if in this meeting it turns out that the highest of the angelic thrones, namely the angelic and human, is the lot of not one, but two, of which the highest and holiest will give a helping hand to the fallen, but restored? At the same time, we should further remember that this help can be given and implemented only through the power of acceptance and assimilation of the atoning sacrifice of Christ, not only by the entire angelic world with Michael and his army at the head, who once led
the war in the sky and those who overthrew Dennitsa from it, but also the latter himself. This new event in heaven will take place in the presence of the angel-man. We have no idea how it will be, but there is no doubt that it cannot but happen. But further this help cannot but be provided by the entire church, not only heavenly, but also earthly, those glorified holy people who have the gift of a “merciful heart”, the ignition of universal love, as evidenced by St. Isaac the Syrian, who in this case is the mouth of the entire body of saints. And, finally, in heaven, and even above heaven, this help will be manifested by the Most Pure and Most Blessed One, more honest than all the saints. angels, She whose merciful Heart is the seat of the Holy Spirit, the most hypostatic love. The power of Pentecost, communicated to the whole world, tongues of fire that ignited all creation, will ignite the dead but resurrected souls of fallen spirits, and their salvation will be revealed. All this will be still new and new centuries of centuries, unknown and inaccessible to us. However, we know God’s love for creation and its promise that “the Lord brought all into disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. For all things are from Him, by Him and to Him. To him be glory forever. Amen". (R. 11, 32, 36).
The study of this problem was started by Fr. Sergius Bulgakov in The Burning Bush, continued in The Lamb of God and completed in The Bride of the Lamb. It constitutes the essence of the anthropological teaching of Fr. Sergius,
and therefore, a comprehensive coverage of this problem requires special attention here.
The world was created by God and therefore divine at its core. The fullness of being is embedded in it and all possible perfection is contained in it. Man does not begin, but completes creation and includes it within himself, completing the integrity of the universe. Completeness is the original state of primordial man. He is chaste, and his life contains the possibility of immortality.
Man was created from the dust of the earth, from common created matter, and this connects him with all created nature. But God breathed into man the breath of life, gave him a hypostatic, that is, personal, existence, destined for eternity. And by virtue of this origin, man is the son of God Himself. His created spirit has the features of his Divine Prototype, and only from Him can it be understood both in all the sublimity and absoluteness of its purpose in the world, and in all the relativity of its becoming, unfinished existence.
Man is more complex than the natural world and disembodied angels, because man is spiritual and at the same time soul-physical. The spirit of a person is, first of all, his personality, personal free self-awareness. The personality of a person is an unknown mystery inherent in everyone, an unexplored abyss, an immeasurable depth.
The image of God is placed in man by God as the ontological, irremovable and indestructible basis of his existence; This is the original power given by God to man for life and creativity. It can increase and decrease in him, shine and darken, depending on his conscious self-determination, freedom and spiritual efforts. The likeness of God is the free realization by a person of his image, his spiritual calling, the main task of his life. Image and likeness from-
are carried among themselves as the basis and the goal, the given and the given, alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the fundamental principle and completeness of accomplishment.
The discrepancy between image and likeness in a person or his potentiality and actuality, presence and givenness is precisely what constitutes the uniqueness of a person who, with his free will, realizes or does not realize his ideal image in himself.
Man can only be understood from God, for the image of man is made in the image of God, and man's ways are largely determined by the ways of God.
The core of the anthropological teaching of Fr. is the revelation of the richness and completeness of the content of the image of God in man. Sergius, which differs significantly from other Christian anthropological theories.
The life story of primordial man begins with direct communication with God: according to the figurative expression of the Bible, God comes to paradise, “in the cool of the day,” to “talk” with man as with a friend; and this conversation was not a gift of grace. This was the result of man's purity and sinlessness.
It is important to understand the metahistorical reality of the heavenly state of the world and man. The Garden of Eden is conceived in the biblical story as deliberately planted by God for man to inhabit it (Genesis 2:8). The whole earth held within itself the possibility of becoming God's garden if Adam had exercised creative obedience to God in cultivating and maintaining this earth (Gen. 2:15).
The first-created man was created as husband and wife, and the context of the biblical presentation (Genesis 1:26-27) makes us see in this dual unity the fullness of God's image in man. Between them, however, a certain hierarchical relationship is established; this is expressed in the creation of a wife from the rib of her husband, and not directly from the dust of the earth, emphasizing the primacy
important role of the husband. In his prophetic insight, Adam gave his wife the name Eve, which means “life.”
God, in His love for creation and in His condescension towards it, allows it to participate in creation. From the moment when the first-created man was told to “possess all the earth” and “have dominion over every creature” (Gen. 1:28), man became the responsible guardian of the universe, so that his own self-determination is also the fate of the whole world. In this sense, man, while not being in any way the creator of the world, was, however, a responsible participant in its condition and destinies.
But Adam’s life, as a created being, began in paradise from his minority and even, as it were, from newborn birth, i.e. inexperience, inexperience and ignorance of oneself, and childhood, although innocent, is defenseless from temptation. And in the sense of self-determination, Adam, like a newborn, needed to test and exercise his spiritual powers. Therefore, he was given the ontological commandment about not eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life was given to him at his full disposal, i.e. immortality. In this commandment, Adam was given a call to self-determination. God, preserving the freedom of man, left Adam to his own devices, but warned him that if he ate the forbidden fruit, he would die.
The commandment of God revealed to the primordial man the possibility of the emergence of good or evil, life or death in their opposition. This form of the commandment precisely corresponded to the untested, naive state of Adam. For holiness in a state of maturity and testing, such a commandment already loses its force, for for the righteous there is no law, but only love.
Man, according to God's thought, was created for creative work in himself and the world. The beginning of work and creativity still refers to the heavenly state, i.e. to the very metaphysical essence of an intact human relationship with
the world, when a person is not yet subject to the fear of death, for the tree of life is available to him, and he does not know the threat of hunger. Work in the “paradise economy” was to be carried out in the name of love for God’s creation, in the name of knowledge and improvement of God’s nature. This is free, selfless work, imbued with love, in which farming merges with artistic creativity.
The critical moment of choice, testing and self-determination inevitably stood in the way of Adam due to his creatureliness and the dual possibility objectively inherent in him: to turn to God, to become a god by grace for the whole world, or, having turned to the world, to subsequently become its slave, to give strength to the elements of sin and death.
As a created being, Adam had within himself the created weakness and instability of nature; it contained the possibility of life not only in God and for God, but also in the world and for the world.
A stable balance between the spirit and the spiritual-physical flesh of a person can be found and realized only by himself with the help of divine grace. As a result, the possibility of temptation and the fall is contained in the very created nature of man, its formation, instability and freedom.
What can be considered the cause of the Fall of Adam and Eve? During the process of formation, did the created abyss open up in them, free resistance to God, or did temptation play the main role here? And if temptation, where did it come from? Unexpectedly for the ancestors, this temptation came from the angelic world, in which the original satanic sin first occurred.
The nature of angels is unknown to us, but in the tradition of the Church and its hymns there is a Revelation that angels constitute consonant hierarchies united in an “angelic council”, as opposed to the totality of people forming the “human race”, in the sense of unity of origin through
reproduction. So, in the temple there is a chant addressed to the Most Holy Theotokos: “Every creature, the angelic council and the human race, rejoices in You, O Most Gracious One...”
According to the data of Revelation, in the angelic world there was the highest First Angel. The prophet Isaiah calls him: “Daystar, son of the dawn!” (Isaiah 14:12). And the prophet Ezekiel writes about him (Ezekiel 28:12, 14-15): “You are the seal of perfection, the fullness of wisdom and the crown of beauty...You were an anointed cherub to overshadow, and I appointed you for this; you were on the holy mountain of God, walking among the fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you.”
How did lawlessness appear in the “son of the morning”? How could “the fullness of perfection and the crown of beauty” become the source of “satanic evil”? To answer these questions, one must first understand the life of angels, their relationship with the human world and their service to it.
Angels were created by God as disembodied spirits, that is, not having a human body, but possessing hypostases: they are not faceless, but hypostatic forces of God, created by the Logos.
Angels have hierarchical differences, form ranks and armies. In the famous work of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite “On the Heavenly Hierarchy,” nine ranks of angels are established: angels, archangels, principles; power, strength, domination; thrones, cherubim, seraphim. Moreover, each rank has its own type of spiritual growth.
The life of disembodied angels remains transcendental for man as an incarnate being. However, with the spiritual side of his being, a person comes into contact with the spiritual world, and to that extent is capable of some, albeit limited, comprehension of it.
Angels do not have their own world; therefore, with the energy of their being they are turned to God, to the world of God.
personal Their immersion in the Divine life constitutes the source of their own life, which represents infinitely gracious deification. Such a degree of closeness to God is inaccessible to man, and in this sense he is immeasurably lower than the angels. However, by his nature, by his hierarchical place in creation, in the world, man has an advantage over the angels; the fullness of the image of God belongs to him to a greater extent. This is irrefutably evidenced by the fact that Christ was incarnated as a man, but not as an angel, and deified precisely human nature. The greater complexity of human nature corresponds to its greater wealth; it is the source of both strength and weakness of man. Angels directly know God, they are left only to love Him or, if their freedom is perverted, to envy Him; to seek God is characteristic only of man.
Despite the spiritual height of angels and their exceptional closeness to God, angels are ministering spirits, representing the power of the Divine, His will. Angelic service to the human world is manifested primarily in the priestly, prayerful presence before the Throne of God to perform the sacraments, which is expressed in Orthodox liturgy and iconography.
The world, created by God “very well” (Genesis 1:31), was handed over to man and angels for its preservation and creative development in its entirety. The image of God was implanted in them as an indestructible “given”, and they were given creaturely freedom. The choice of ways to realize this freedom was rooted exclusively in the spiritual self-determination of angels and man. There were two ways. One – the true one – was affirmed in the coordination of self-determination and natural reality. This given could be accepted as a gift from God. The creature could humble itself before the omnipotence and wisdom of the Creator and respond with love
to the love of God imprinted in creation. It was possible to meet in love - the Creator and the creation, love that gives and love that humbly accepts and thanks. But there was another way - ontological rebellion, insane resistance. Since in the angelic world disembodied spirits see God face to face, such self-determination is a direct rebellion against God and enmity towards Him. Such a false use of created freedom leads to a violation of the original norm of existence, to self-mutilation, to resistance to the law of one’s own life, to the kindling of the internal hellish “eternal fire”, to Luciferic evil. According to the teachings of the Church, such evil arose for the first time (ontologically and chronologically) in the spiritual world of disembodied angels. And the first to take this godless path was the First Angel Dennitsa. There is no reason to believe that this rebellion against God was an instantaneous act; apparently, it was some kind of long-term spiritual-dynamic process that began with the gradual fading of Dennitsa’s love for God. This entailed the awakening of spiritual self-love, egocentrism, isolation and self-blinding, self-focus, seeing only oneself, and the ignition of self-pride. Satanic pride obscures the image of God, extinguishes love for God, distorts and drowns out the image of sacrificially self-denying trinitarian Divine love. This altruism and humility of Divine love is contrasted with the pride of satanic unlove. Egocentric self-deity inevitably conceals within itself an ineradicable and invincible consciousness of its creatureliness, the falsity of its claims, and at the same time the satanic temptation to recognize itself as the Prototype. From here the cold fire of jealousy ignites and hatred of God is born, burning itself to ashes, rivalry with Him, the madness of hopeless envy. The creature is forced to constantly convince itself of its equality with its Creator and even its superiority.
sovereignty over God. Such is this fatal chain of Luciferic combustion of Dennitsa: non-love - pride - envy - hatred - despair - dark flame. Satanic malice is the underworld, the dark face of unquenchable love, turned into its opposite.
In the process of this spiritual fall, Dennitsa seduced a whole group of angels into an open path to direct rebellion against God, to anti-God in the name of his own self-theology through a direct refusal to realize the likeness of God in his created image. This is how Dennitsa misused his creaturely freedom.
In the process of this rebellion of Dennitsa and his angels against God, a grandiose struggle with him in Heaven began, led by the indestructibly faithful Archangel Michael with his army. It ended with the complete victory of this bright angel, and Dennitsa, nicknamed Satan from that time on, and his “angels” were cast out from the “heavenly abodes.” Since then, the holy Archangel Michael became the First Angel instead of Dennitsa.
Dennitsa was perfect in his creation, and even in his insane fall, the indestructibility of his deep creaturely givenness, invested in him by God, was preserved.
The created power of the former First Angel now turns into an evil, insatiable will for power and destruction, seeking to realize itself. And he becomes the demon-tempter of our spiritually inexperienced and unstable ancestors in metahistory, and subsequently the “prince of this world” throughout the empirical history of all humanity, right up to apocalyptic times.
The First Angel, together with his minions, was called to become man's first friend, but this service could only be based on selfless love. When this love faded away, its place was taken by the thirst for power, fueled by envy of man, who was initially placed ontologically above the angels. From the Guardian Angel of the World to Satan
turns into the “prince of this world” who wants to appropriate the world for himself. He finds himself in the position of a predator-conqueror, driven not by love, but by envy and thirst for power, not by truth, but by lies. As an angel, he is not transcendent to the world and has access to its life; like Satan, he is hostile to him and uses his power to distort the world in his own image, sow his tares in it, poison and destroy the universe. In this creativity of evil, Satan finds objective life for himself.
Satan’s insane desire to compare with God and take His place in the human world finds temporary and apparent fulfillment, for indeed, under the influence of the evil one, Satan’s creation of evil in the world and the struggle with God begins.
O. Sergius, with his characteristic powerful spiritual optimism, argues that the outcome of this struggle is already predetermined as a hopeless defeat, the crazy bet of Satanism is lost. There is no choice: the path of the devil will be completed to the end, but after this an inevitable catastrophe will occur in Satanism itself, and “a new era begins with the abolition of the kingdom of the “prince of this world” and the accession in the world of the true King - Christ, who came in glory to His Kingdom.” .
The attack of the fallen angels on the life of the world leads to a change in their very nature: demons turn into demons, who become involved in the life of the human world both through humans and through the animal and natural world in general. This terrible demonic disease is not localized, but spreads to the entire natural and human world. One can point out a number of places in the Gospel and in the New Testament in general, where the connection between spiritual and physical ailments and the actions of Satan is directly revealed.
Instead of angelic service to the world, which does not change the angels’ own nature and life, what happens is
Thus, the history of fallen humanity has a prologue for itself in Heaven, and evil in its pure form, which first appeared in the angelic world, inevitably seeped into the human world, through the fallen first angel - Satan and the fallen demons - tempting demons. But, ultimately, the world, created by God and belonging to Him, returned to God, and Satanism is doomed to destruction.
To get rid of evil craft and satanic ways, the world needs exorcisms: all kinds of consecrations of things, places, houses, etc., as well as “prohibitions” before baptism. However, there is still a lot of unsolved and mysterious things left in these questions, especially in mental illnesses, which have both spiritual and physical foundations in various distortions of the way of being.
Evil in man is different from satanic, although it is connected with it; First of all, it differs in the degree of consciousness and intensity, due to the complexity of human nature and the world subordinate to it. Satanism is pure evil, as a direct rebellion against the directly visible God. For a person who, thanks to physicality, has his own world and an active life in it, the existence of God is an object of faith; therefore, falling away from God is not a direct and conscious, rebellious act here, but to a certain extent the fruit of misunderstanding and even deception. The possibility of evil nests in the heart of man, in his freedom. However, in spiritual self-determination
The division of man comes with a number of complications, as can be seen from the biblical story of the Fall.
O. Sergius considers the biblical myth of the fall of our ancestors as one of the hieroglyphs of Truth, which is subject to pious comprehension in order to understand the full depth and significance of the atonement of original sin through the highest Sacrifice of Christ. As always in his theological work, Bulgakov strives to gain this comprehension through inspired prayer, standing before the throne of God, through the exertion of all his spiritual, intellectual and spiritual powers.
“Our attitude to the biblical story of the Fall should be strictly realistic,” writes Bulgakov. – What we learn from it is a fact, albeit of a special kind, and in this metahistorical reality, all the details of the narrative - every word, every letter - have a special meaning, because they depict in a symbolically condensed and poetically abbreviated form the entire multi-colored fabric of human history , nature and fate."
The beginning of the fall should be seen not in the evil will of man, opposing itself to God, but in the tempting whisper of Satan in the form of a serpent. The temptation of primordial people occurred through a complex process of deception and self-deception, error and delusion, and the interaction of satanic and misdirected human will.
Let us note, firstly, that, as the Bible says (Genesis 3:1), “the wisest serpent of all the beasts of the field that the Lord God made” is addressed not to Adam, but to Eve. Why? Adam knew the animal world more fully and deeply, for before his fall, as the Bible narrates, he gave “names to all the livestock and birds of the air and to every beast of the field,” which for this purpose “God brought to him” (Gen.
2:19-20). Therefore, having seen the essence of animals, he could immediately expose the serpent and resist him. It was easier to deceive Eve due to her smaller stock of knowledge, the greater naivety and passivity of her young, female perception.
Secondly, the serpent does not follow the open satanic path in which he seduced his angels to direct rebellion against God, to anti-God in the name of his own self-deity, through a direct refusal to realize the image of God. He chooses a different path: he turns to Eve as a natural being with a crafty question: “Did God truly say: you shall not eat from any tree in paradise?” (Genesis 3:1). Eve innocently answers the serpent: “we can eat the fruit of the trees, only the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden” (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), “God said, do not eat them or touch them, lest you die” (Genesis 3 :2-3). The very fact of this conversation between Eve and the serpent represents the beginning of the Fall - a double betrayal: both to God and to her husband. The primordial couple could live a full life and know God only united in their love. Her betrayal of God lies in the fact that she did not stop talking with the serpent, but humiliated herself to talking with him about God Himself and His truth, and the fact that Eve is talking about God in the absence of Adam with some mysterious creature who belongs according to the flesh to the animal world, but in spirit - to some alien, unkind and hitherto unknown world to her - this circumstance is her spiritual betrayal of her husband. The serpent, seeing that the victim had fallen into his net, and continuing the conversation he had begun, said: “No, you will not die, but God knows that on the day on which you taste the forbidden fruits, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods who know good and evil" (Genesis 3:4-5). Here the devil in the form of a serpent is clearly lying, for he is “a liar and the father of lies,” and slanderes God, attributing to Him envy of people and fear of rivalry. Here comes the central moment of Eve's fall: alienated from
her husband, lonely, deprived of his protection, Eve falls away from love for God, believes more in the serpent than in Him, and takes the path of betrayal of God, the path of self-affirmation and sin. The Bible says: “And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes and desirable because it gave knowledge; and she took of its fruit and ate” (Gen. 3:6). From the biblical text it is clear that the fruit of the forbidden tree became the subject of Eve’s independent carnal pleasure, awakening in her lust, which, as we will see below, violated her chastity.
In this temptation, Satan took on the face of Lucifer, a Gnostic teacher who promises knowledge on the path of development and strengthening of human egocentrism. Meanwhile, God's commandment commands the overcoming of egocentrism in divine and conjugal love. Eve fell, but her fall did not stop there: she gave the forbidden fruit to her husband. Adam could not accept the fruit offered by Eve, not succumb to temptation, but make an attempt to save Eve with the power of his love, especially since his lack of vigilance allowed her to talk with the serpent. However, due to his inexperience, Adam might not fully understand what was threatening him if he followed his wife. It is possible that the egoism of human love and the desire to please Eve began to speak in him. But the fact turned out to be irrefutable that his wife became closer to him than God and His commandment; Adam ate the fruit, which aroused lust in him.
And from that moment, as can be seen from the biblical myth, their pristine chastity was violated: if earlier, being naked, they were “not ashamed” of their nakedness (Genesis 2:25), then after eating the forbidden fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, they “learned that naked,” and made themselves aprons from fig leaves (Gen. 3:7). And for the first time they hid from God, hearing His voice in paradise. “And the Lord God called to Adam: Where are you? He said: I heard Your voice in Paradise
and he was afraid because I was naked, and he hid himself. -Who told you that you are naked? - God asked. “Have you not eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat?” (Genesis 3:9-11). Adam confessed that he ate this fruit, having received it from his wife, and Eve said that she also ate it, deceived by the serpent.
What is the essence of the original sin of our first parents? According to God's thought, man was created by God for creative work in himself and in the world. This path of doing in the name of God is a difficult path for a person, full of temptations and requiring effort with its unstable balance. At the same time, it is a royal, incomparable path, the path of freedom. The world for man, and especially for the primordial one, is an untested field, but at the same time it is the breadth and depth of his own life. Perfection is sought, but not given to a creature that does not know a masterpiece, and this is not only from sin, but primarily from creatureliness. In the creative self-determination of a creature, therefore, there is a place for imperfection and mistakes, different paths and possibilities. But this is not yet evil, just as error is not a sin - it belongs to the formation of the creature. If the world were an automaton, it would act with the precision of a mechanism or with the infallibility of instinct, but then there would be no place in it for creaturely creativity, which is synonymous with life, and it would be dead. However, God did not create death. The natural world was created by God “good”, but even in this primordial perfection the pre-human world was designed for creative cultivation of the earth (Gen. 2:5); The crown of nature - man - was settled in the “Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it” (Gen. 2:15); he was to transform the whole world into the garden of God. Thus, even all of nature was to a certain extent entrusted to human creativity in order to raise it to perfection and completeness. But although man was given full strength and grace-filled help at his creation, he still had to demonstrate his free self-determination.
share in one's own creation. Having in himself, as it were, two centers of being, spiritual and created, primordial man - in the image of Adam and Eve - made his choice, deviating towards the flesh, subordinating his spirit to its calls, and not mastering the flesh spiritually. This is the ontological event that is symbolized in the Bible as the violation of the commandment, or the fall. Adam closed the path to divine life for himself, almost died spiritually and in fact ceased to be a potential god-man, but became a natural man. And nature appeared before him with its created face, in an improper and abnormal, perverted state, like the earth, doomed to suffer because of man, along with all living creatures, sighing with those who conquered it. The image of God was darkened in Adam, for he took an undue step towards the natural animal world, placing the carnal eating of the forbidden fruit above the food given to him. Instead of the food of the tree of life, as a prototype of heavenly food, the bread of life, primordial man ate from the food of the earthly knowledge of good and evil, and thereby entered the path of magic, i.e. natural rather than spiritual mastery of the world. And through this, instead of the innocent feeling of the body, man was possessed by the evil sensuality of the flesh, opposing the spirit, which in itself already carries its own condemnation - shame. Having become involved in the animal world, the ancestors fell in a certain sense below it, for in the animal world there remains its own innocence, corresponding to the animal soul. Animals do not know depravity, which is accessible only to man: the greater the height, the deeper the fall; in this way, man’s power over the world has been weakened.
In original sin, man extinguished the life of grace in himself, interrupted direct grace-filled communication - “conversation” with God, ceased to be a friend of God, but became a natural being. And this was spiritual suicide: just as the soul is the life of the body, so is God
there is eternal life of the soul. Having turned away from God, man lost the strength and source of true spiritual life in himself and, weakened, he could no longer maintain his body in eternal life. Death has entered the world. At the same time, he, being the ontological center of the world, its soul, has lost the ability to “dominate the world.” And this world fell into orphanhood, left without a loving and wise owner. The Fall was a cosmic catastrophe in metahistory and manifested itself not only in human, but also in all natural existence. The whole world would be different if Adam had not sinned. Having thus a cosmic significance, Adam's sin also had a universal significance, so that the sin of one became the lot of others. This event marked the beginning of the second eon of history and our historical time. Being only an individual, Adam acts as an all-man, who, with his free self-determination, imposed a sinful stamp on all of nature and responsibility for the act on all of humanity. However, it is necessary to emphasize, firstly, that the Fall of Adam is not a satanic sin, but a human one, for Adam was not opposed to God of his own free will as Lucifer, but was involved in sin through deception, and secondly, that original sin is the sin of the human condition , and not its entire essence. Therefore, the rebirth of man is necessary and possible through the interaction of human efforts and the grace of God, that is, synergism.
The effect of original sin is revealed in the history of mankind, firstly, as the weakness of nature, expressed in human mortality, for it should be firmly remembered that God, when creating man, did not create either illness or death. After original sin, the human spirit does not sufficiently master its body at birth, so that from the very beginning of birth, along with the energies of life, the energy of destruction begins to develop and accumulate. There is a mortality rate
already the basic internal quality of life, its incompleteness, manifested at the end of life by death. The morbidity of the body is only a partial expression of its mortality. Related to this is its dependence on natural elements, hunger, cold and other conditions; his fatigue, weakness, limitations of mind and knowledge, weakness of will and its fluctuations, affectivity of the entire passionate being of a person. The weakness of nature is a consequence of original sin; it is invincible and irremovable by any human holiness. But this weakness is not a personal sin. The Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily took upon Himself “the likeness of the flesh of sin, the weakness of nature.” This weakness differs significantly from sins as human acts, crimes, as manifestations of the creativity of evil in the world. The power of sin in a person can increase to the point of demonization (Antichrist) or fleshing (antediluvian humanity), but it can also weaken to such an extent that a person is able to rise to the highest holiness, personal sinlessness, the pinnacle of which is reached in the Virgin Mary. The Most Pure Virgin came from the holy God-fathers, who absorbed all the Old Testament holiness and grace. By her natural origin from Adam, having within herself all the power of original sin as weakness, She remains free from all personal sin, from all participation in the creation of evil, of course, the help of divine grace. The weakness of Her nature is most clearly expressed in the fact that She was subject to the natural law of death, which She accepted in Her honest Assumption.
This weakness of nature determines the activity of the power of sin, gives rise to sinfulness, which allows the “prince of this world” to rule over man. However, this power of sinfulness can be weakened and brought closer to a state of potentiality. Therefore the active force
sin is subject to change. Here, of course, there is a fundamental difference between the Old and New Testaments, or more precisely, between the state of those who have received baptism and those who do not know it (which is all Old Testament humanity). In the waters of baptism, the guilt of original sin is washed away and the grace of new life is given. However, the weakness of human nature, which opposes the good in the body and will of man, remains in force. Therefore, a baptized person also has the ability to sin and needs the sacraments of repentance and communion of the holy mysteries. According to Orthodox teaching, original sin deprived man of the gifts of grace: his nature was violated, man lost power over himself and became mortal. After the Fall, man changed in his entire state, but he did not lose his indestructible divine foundation.
Weakness, as the common lot of the whole world and man, cannot be overcome by individual human strength and is in this sense a constant value. It is overcome only by the power of Christ’s incarnation, incarnation and His glorious Resurrection. The Savior, while remaining free from original sin, accepted, however, along with the “likeness of the flesh of sin” its consequence - weakness; he accepted it out of love for humanity, in order to overcome this weakness from within, atonement for sin. Here the sacrifice of love is revealed - complete and only.
The second consequence of the Fall is that the power of sinfulness is variable. It can be more and less, now condensing to the pre-Flood corruption and the abomination of Sodom, now enlightening to the righteousness of God's friend Moses and the purity of John the Baptist, reaching the pinnacle of absolute personal sinlessness in the Blessed Virgin Mary. It goes without saying that this personal sinlessness cannot be achieved solely by human strength without the grace of God.
There was no violence, no fatality in the commission of original sin; it was accomplished in freedom and therefore imputed to Adam and Eve as guilt. However, the Fall did not abolish in them the image of God as the internal basis and norm of nature, nor did it abolish either freedom or self-creativity in man, although they were diminished by sin.
The created freedom of man, in a certain sense, is limited already in the very act of creation through the image of God, which constitutes the ineradicable givenness of the creature. Although this freedom may resist the given image of God, it cannot turn into absolute self-will as satanic. Such illegal freedom would be an ontological rebellion, and in the end, the spiritual slavery of the creature to its very nature and, as a consequence, death. On the contrary, true freedom is achieved only when it is accepted by free agreement with God’s thought about us: “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free,” says John the Theologian (John 8:32).
The problem of evil in the world is closely connected with the problem of created freedom. First of all, evil is not a substance, but a state of created being. The “prince of this world” is not God, but only a creature rebelled against God.
For creatureliness, becoming is essential - the process in which the completeness, plan and idea of creation, outlined by God Himself, is realized. Each step in this process is not yet completeness; it reveals seeking, imperfection, and infallibility. Perfection is what is sought, but it is not given to the creature; at each stage of development, different possibilities open up before the creature, which are unequal and unequal and can lead to mistakes; despite the limitations of the creature, its creativity is revealed here, which is included in the plan for the creation of the world. But in this creativity there is no divine perfection and completeness; there are inevitable
mistakes that do not, however, represent evil, but prepare a place for it.
The imperfection inherent in creation manifests itself both in the spiritual and animate world, and in the kingdom of nature, even in inorganic being. The lower a given type of creature stands on the ladder of life, the more fully it realizes itself and, in this sense, the more perfectly and accurately it expresses itself. And vice versa, the images of creation left to their own improvement and creativity, namely man, are more marked by imperfection and limitation. Therefore, it has a history that is not characteristic of the instinctive life of animals. The historicism of human existence (and through man and disembodied spirits) is both evidence of the incompleteness of man in each individual era, and of his calling to perfection through his own creativity - the high destiny of the sons of God. Since the goal, the task of the creature’s life itself is formation, change, growth, then each of its states must be understood dynamically. It is determined not by what it is, but by what it was and what it will be, that is, by the direction of its growth. The lack of goodness is tantamount to the creature’s failure to fulfill its destiny, its resistance to its idea, its unwillingness to realize in itself the likeness of its image. Instead of growth, movement upward, forward, it turns out to be a stop or even a reverse move, and every moment of this improper state increases the distance between what the creature should have become according to its assignment, and what it actually becomes. Everything here is in constant change: there is no state of neutrality or peace here and cannot be. “Whoever does not gather with Me scatters” (Matthew 12:30). This discrepancy between the given and the real, image and likeness can be the weakness of good, its impotence and exhaustion. But this is not yet true evil, but rather a disease of being, a weakening of its vitality.
no strength. Evil, in its proper sense, appears when this absence of good is the result of personal will, which does not want its own growth, according to the will of God, but wants the manifestation of its own will, no matter what the cost.
So, evil was created not by God, but by creation. But victory will be for God in metahistorical eschatology, when God, without any limitation, will be in everything. The bearers of real evil are Satan and his angels. Satanic evil is a reality and an active force in the world, and, of course, it is not enough to understand it only as the absence of goodness or imperfection. It has its own kingdom and its own “prince,” although they have already been defeated by Christ and act in the world only “for a time.”
Good arises together with evil and is the reaction of holiness to sin and evil. Having arisen in creation, evil casts its ominous shadow over everything and evokes the opposition of good, which represents tempted and active holiness as opposition to evil. Temptation also approached the One Sinless One, the Son of God and Man, who entered the world under the power of the “prince of this world.” The Lord came for this purpose, to destroy his works and abolish his power through accepting temptation in opposition to evil: “Behold, the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). The final victory will remain with Christ - in the lives of the saints in the world, in the Parousia and in eschatology. The world was handed over to man and the angels for safekeeping. The seed of God is indestructible. Love will win. Let a demonized person want to destroy the image of God in himself, to abolish the very thought of God. The image of God in man is indestructible; being obscured and distorted, it must be restored and revealed. This restoration is the work of God’s economy, the “salvation” of the world, which was promised by God during the expulsion of the first parents from paradise.
The life of a person who has submitted to vanity is empty and devoid of higher purposefulness and purpose. Vanity is emptiness; This is a life divorced from its highest meaning, devoid of spirit and worthy purposefulness. In the Fall, an unnatural break between nature and man occurred, after which man became a slave of nature, bearing the curse for his sin. The natural relationship between man and nature, conceived by God, has changed to the opposite: it is not man who owns nature, leading it to God, being its high priest, but nature owns man, leads him away from God, intimidating him with her power, bewitching him with her charms, conquering him with her wealth. She makes him “flesh” and enslaves him to dependence on her for sustenance.
But just as man, in his fall, did not destroy the image of God in himself, but only darkened and weakened it, so nature, having become detached from man, did not lose its divine foundation, although it darkened its face.
Nature, positive in its divine basis and content, received an improper existence as a result of the fall of man. Doomed to inevitable independence, it became a godless, self-sufficient world, and the animal world, deprived of human gracious leadership, became doomed to a struggle for existence, to mutual self-destruction. In its disobedience to man, nature acquires its own power over him. The forces of nature in their elemental life become the abode of demons, who identify themselves with natural spirits called upon to protect it. It is not nature that is humanized, but man that is dehumanized, becoming a natural being. Nature turns out to be stronger than an exhausted person. Man had to organize the life of nature. But in his fall, man actually ceased to be the soul of nature, although he retained
within itself its potency. Therefore, nature finds its soul outside of man, as some kind of false center, and therefore it is dangerous for the human spirit to limitlessly merge with nature, to entrust itself to its royal domination. He must, loving nature, resist it, ascetically affirming his spirituality. Nature after the Fall beckons man to become lower than himself, to renounce himself.
This tragedy is most aggravated in the area where merging with nature is most intimate: in beauty and in art as a creative service to beauty. However, beauty can conceal poison in itself, be deceptive, for the beauty of nature or natural beauty can be autonomous from the spirit, indifferent to good and evil. But for a person turned to God, beauty is inseparable from holiness; it is “smart”, and not just natural beauty. For spiritual, intelligent beauty, beauty and sin are incompatible. To reject beauty means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, from whom beauty comes. To be blind to beauty is to close your soul to His spirit in nature. To surrender blindly to beauty, abolishing your spirituality for its sake, means chasing a ghost, because true beauty is spiritual, although it is revealed in nature. This is the tragedy of the artist.
Man faces a great cosmourgic task: to restore the broken connection of his spirit with nature.
Overcoming the power of natural sin and restoring the original state of man could only be accomplished by the act of incarnation - the death and Resurrection of the New Adam - Christ. However, the fight against sins has forever remained the main task of every person. The path of spiritual activity, the path of struggle and active ascent is common to all humanity. The main drivers on this path are: Christian faith, the acquisition of grace, humility, love and mercy, boldness and creativity in the Holy Spirit.
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