On the Holy Angels

 

Angels have no need of tongue or hearing, but without uttering words they communicate to each other their own thoughts and counsels. They are circumscribed (confined): for when they are in the Heaven they are not on the earth; and when they are sent by God down to the earth they do not remain in Heaven. They are not hemmed in by walls and doors, and bars and seals, for they are quite unlimited….Further, apart from their essence they receive the sanctification from the Spirit: Through the divine grace they prophesy (predict); They have no need of marriage for they are immortal, seeing that they are minds in mental places, and are not circumscribed after the fashion of a body. They have not a bodily form by nature, nor are they tended in three dimensions, but to whatever post they may be assigned, there they are present after the manner of a mind and energize….They are mighty and prompt to fulfill the will of the Deity, and their nature is endowed with such celerity (quickness) that wherever the Divine glance bids them there they are straightway found. They are the gaurdians of the divisions of the earth: they are set over nations and regions, allotted to them by their Creator: they govern all our affairs and bring us succor (help or relief)….They behold God according to their capacity, and this is their food. They are above us for they are incorporeal (without substance), and are free of all bodily passion, yet they are not passionless: for the Deity alone is passionless. They have Heaven for their dwelling-place, and have one duty, to sing God’s praise and carry out His divine will.