The Nine Ranks

The traditional ordering of the angelic hosts — from Seraphim to Angels.

The Orthodox Church has long spoken of the holy angels as ordered in nine ranks, or choirs. This traditional ordering comes especially from the writings of St. Dionysius the Areopagite and has been received throughout the centuries as a helpful way of understanding the diversity and harmony of the angelic world.

The nine ranks are traditionally grouped into three hierarchies:

The First Hierarchy — those closest to God:
Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones.

The Second Hierarchy — those who govern the cosmos:
Dominions, Virtues, and Powers.

The Third Hierarchy — those most concerned with the life of the world and of human beings:
Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.

The Seraphim are the highest, burning with the fire of love for God. The Cherubim are full of knowledge and wisdom. The Thrones are the seats of the divine justice and authority. From there the ranks descend in ordered service, each fulfilling its own ministry while remaining united in the single will of God.

This ordering is not meant to be a rigid diagram of heaven. It is a way of speaking about the richness of the angelic world and the beauty of a creation in which everything has its place and its purpose. All the ranks, from the highest Seraphim to the angels who watch over individual souls, serve the same Lord and rejoice in the same worship.

When we sing the thrice-holy hymn in the Divine Liturgy, we are joining our voices to this great ordered company of heaven. The Church on earth and the Church in heaven become one in the praise of the Holy Trinity.