Nine choirs of angels

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Assumption of the Virgin Mary by Francesco Botticini (1446–1497). Mary and Jesus are surrounded by nine choirs of angels, divided into three levels.
The nine choirs of angels. Ceiling fresco by Johann Jakob Zeiller in the Ottobeuren basilica (1756)
Five (out of nine) orders of angels on the choir screen of St Michael and All Angels Church (Barton Turf) , Norfolk (England): Cherubim, principatus, throni, archangeli, angeli; on the far right Saint Barbara (photo John Salmon)
The nine choirs of angels on a Greek icon

The nine choirs of angels are a division of the heavenly beings of Christian mythology into nine orders, going back to the early Middle Ages.

Designations and hierarchical structure

In Latin the orders are: angeli, archangeli, virtutes, potestates, principatus, dominationes, throni, cherubim, seraphim .

In German, the names are usually given with angels, archangels, powers, powers, princes (domains), lordships, thrones, cherubim and seraphim .

Even Pseudo-Dionysius divided the nine orders in three hierarchical levels one:

First (top) hierarchy

Second hierarchy

  • Dominions (lat. Dominatrix TIONES , gr. Kyriotetes )
  • Powers (lat. Virtutes , gr. Dynameis )
  • Powers (lat. Potestates , gr. Exusiai )

Third hierarchy

  • Princes (Latin principatus , Greek archai )
  • Archangel (Latin archangeli , Greek archangeloi )
  • Angel (Latin angeli , Greek angeloi )

With Gregor and other authors, there are slight modifications of these hierarchies; The order and ranking of the angel choirs was the subject of scholarly discussions in the Middle Ages.

Lore history

The first recorded mention of the nine orders can be found in the 6th century in Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita in his work On the Heavenly Hierarchy . Pseudo-Dionysius divides the nine orders into three hierarchical levels: the highest includes seraphim, cherubim, throni , the middle dominationes, virtutes, potestates and the lowest principes, archangeli, angeli .

These nine orders were adopted from Gregory the Great , with a slight modification of the hierarchies. Gregory cites the Holy Scriptures: almost every page testifies to the angels and archangels, and the prophets to the cherubim and seraphim. Paul lists four more in the letter to the Ephesians : supra omnem principatum et potestatem et virtutem et dominationem ( Eph 1,21  VUL ); German: high above all princes and powers, powers and lordships ( Eph 1,21  EU ). The thrones can be found - together with other orders - in Colossians : sive throni sive dominationes sive principatus sive potestates ( Col 1,16  VUL ); German: thrones and dominions, powers and powers ( Col 1.16  EU ).

From the 7th century onwards, the teaching spread mainly through Isidore of Seville , who dedicated a chapter of his Etymologiae to angels.

In the 9th century Johannes Scottus Eriugena translated the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius into Latin and presented them to Charles the Bald . As a result, the doctrine of the heavenly hierarchies became extremely widespread and was treated by numerous authors, for example by Petrus Lombardus , Hugo von St. Viktor , Alanus ab Insulis and Thomas von Aquin .

The angelic hierarchies are also dealt with in medieval poetry, for example in Rabanus Maurus , in the sequences of Notker Balbulus and in Hildegard von Bingen . In Canto XXVIII of Paradiso in Dante's Divine Comedy , Beatrice explains the nine orders of angels.

liturgy

In the Missale Romanum , various angel choirs are named in the text of the prefations .

Patronage

“To the nine choirs of angels” is a rare patronage of Catholic churches. The best known is the Kirche am Hof in Vienna.

The subject was taken up structurally in the number symbolism in the Middle Ages, for example in the Michaeliskirche Hildesheim or in the monastery church Fredelsloh .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The alleged writings of St. Dionysius Areopagita on the two hierarchies. Translated from the Greek and provided with explanations by Josef Stiglmayr SJ Library of the Church Fathers , Kempten and Munich 1911 ( archive.org ).
  2. ↑ Gregory the Great: Hom. XXXIV in Luc. 7 (= Migne , PL 76, 1246-1259, documentacatholicaomnia.eu ); Moralia in Iob XXXII, xxiii ( monumenta.ch )
  3. ^ Isidore of Seville: Etymologiae VII, 5 ( penelope.uchicago.edu )
  4. ↑ Libri Sancti Dionysii Areopagitae, quos Ioannes Eriugena transtulit de Graeco in Latinum, iubente ac postulante rege Carolo Ludovici imperatoris filio ( binetti.ru )
  5. ↑ Petrus Lombardus: Sententiae II, distinctio IX ( franciscan-archive.org ( Memento of April 14, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), Latin and English ).
  6. ↑ Thomas Aquinas: Summa theologica I, 108 ( corpusthomisticum.org )
  7. ↑ Rabanus Maurus: De fide Catholica rythmo carmen compositum. In: Poetae Latini medii aevi 2: Poetae Latini aevi Carolini (II). Published by Ernst Dümmler . Berlin 1884, pp. 197–204 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )
  8. ↑ Notker: Omnes sancti .
  9. ↑ Hildegard von Bingen: O vos angeli . ( hildegard-society.org )
  10. ^ The complete Roman Missal in Latin and German, Verlag Herder Freiburg 1956, pp. 460, 483 ff.

literature

  • Gunilla Iverson: “O vos angeli”. Hildegard's lyrical and visionary texts on the celestial hierarchies in the context of her time. In: “In the face of God man seeks himself”. Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179). Published by Rainer Berndt SJ, Akademie Verlag 2001, ISBN 3-05-003568-4 .
  • Mieke Mosmuller: About the hierarchies of angels - The third hierarchy. Occident Verlag, Baarle-Nassau 2017, ISBN 978-3-946699-06-4 .
  • Mieke Mosmuller: About the hierarchies of angels - The second hierarchy. Occident Verlag, Baarle-Nassau 2018, ISBN 978-3-946699-09-5 .
  • Mieke Mosmuller: About the hierarchies of angels - The first hierarchy. Occident Verlag, Baarle-Nassau 2019, ISBN 978-3-946699-12-5 .