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incorporeal, like some spirit or immaterial fire, as the divine David says: "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire," describing what is light and fiery and fervent and most keen and sharp with respect to divine desire and service, and their upward-tending nature, and their being free from every material concept. An angel, therefore, is an intelligent essence, ever in motion, possessed of free will, incorporeal, serving God, having received immortality by grace according to its nature, the form and definition of which essence the Creator alone knows. It is called incorporeal and immaterial, however, in relation to us; for everything, when compared to God, the only one beyond compare, is found to be dense and material, for only the Divinity is truly immaterial and incorporeal. It is, therefore, a rational nature, both intelligent and possessed of free will, changeable in judgment, that is, voluntarily changeable; for everything created is also changeable, and only the uncreated is unchangeable, and everything rational is possessed of free will. As, then, it is rational and intelligent, it is possessed of free will; but as created, it is changeable, having the power both to remain and to progress in the good, and to turn to the worse. It is incapable of repentance, because it is also incorporeal; for man obtained repentance on account of the weakness of the body. It is immortal not by nature, but by grace; for everything that has a beginning also has an end according to nature. Only God is ever-existing, or rather, even beyond "ever"; for the creator of times is not under time, but above time. They are secondary intelligent lights, having their illumination from the first and beginningless light, not needing tongue and hearing, but without uttered speech communicating to one another their own thoughts and counsels. Therefore, all the angels were created through the Word and were perfected by the Holy Spirit through sanctification, partaking of illumination and grace in proportion to their worthiness and rank. They are circumscribed; for when they are in heaven, they are not on earth, and when sent by God to the earth they do not remain in heaven. But they are not confined by walls and doors and bars and seals; for they are unconfined. I say unconfined; for they do not appear as they are to the worthy, to whom God may will them to appear, but in a transformed state, as those who see are able to see. "For only the uncreated is by nature and properly unconfined; for every creature is defined by God who created it." Having their sanctification from without the essence from the Holy Spirit, prophesying through divine grace, not needing marriage, since they are not mortal. But being minds, they are in intelligible places, not circumscribed bodily (for they are not shaped bodily by nature nor are they three-dimensional), but by being intelligently present and active wherever they may be commanded, and are not able to be and to act here and there at the same time. Whether they are equal in essence or differ from one another, we do not know. Only God who made them knows, who also knows all things. They differ from one another in illumination and in station, whether having their station according to their illumination, or partaking of illumination according to their station, and they illuminate one another on account of their superiority of rank or nature. It is clear, however, that the superior impart both illumination and knowledge to their subordinates. They are strong and ready for the fulfillment of the divine will and are immediately found everywhere, wherever the divine command may beckon, with the speed of nature, and they guard parts of the earth, and preside over nations and places, as they were appointed by the Creator, and manage our affairs and help us; in every way, indeed, being superior to us according to the divine will and command, and always being about God. They are moved to evil with difficulty but are not immovable, but now they are even immovable, not by nature but by grace and by their attendance upon the only Good. They see God according to what is possible for them and have this as their nourishment. Being above us as incorporeal and free from every bodily passion, yet not impassible; for only the Divinity is impassible. But they are transformed, into whatever the Lord God may command, and thus they appear to men and reveal divine things to them

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ἀσώματον, οἷόν τι πνεῦμα ἢ πῦρ ἄυλον, ὥς φησιν ὁ θεῖος ∆αυίδ· «Ὁ ποιῶν τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα καὶ τοὺς λειτουργοὺς αὐτοῦ πυρὸς φλόγα,» τὸ κοῦφον καὶ διάπυρον καὶ θερμὸν καὶ τομώτατον καὶ ὀξὺ περὶ τὴν θείαν ἔφεσίν τε καὶ λειτουργίαν διαγράφων καὶ τὸ ἀνωφερὲς αὐτῶν καὶ πάσης ὑλικῆς ἐννοίας ἀπηλλαγμένον. Ἄγγελος τοίνυν ἐστὶν οὐσία νοερά, ἀεικίνητος, αὐτεξούσιος, ἀσώματος, θεῷ λειτουργοῦσα, κατὰ χάριν ἐν τῇ φύσει τὸ ἀθάνατον εἰληφυῖα, ἧς οὐσίας τὸ εἶδος καὶ τὸν ὅρον μόνος ὁ κτίστης ἐπίσταται. Ἀσώματος δὲ λέγεται καὶ ἄυλος, ὅσον πρὸς ἡμᾶς· πᾶν γὰρ συγκρινόμενον πρὸς θεὸν τὸν μόνον ἀσύγκριτον παχύ τε καὶ ὑλικὸν εὑρίσκεται, μόνον γὰρ ὄντως ἄυλον τὸ θεῖόν ἐστι καὶ ἀσώματον. Ἔστι τοίνυν φύσις λογικὴ νοερά τε καὶ αὐτεξούσιος, τρεπτὴ κατὰ γνώμην ἤτοι ἐθελότρεπτος· πᾶν γὰρ κτιστὸν καὶ τρεπτόν, μόνον δὲ τὸ ἄκτιστον ἄτρεπτον, καὶ πᾶν λογικὸν αὐτεξούσιον. Ὡς μὲν οὖν λογικὴ καὶ νοερὰ αὐτεξούσιός ἐστιν, ὡς δὲ κτιστὴ τρεπτή, ἔχουσα ἐξουσίαν καὶ μένειν καὶ προκόπτειν ἐν τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον τρέπεσθαι. Ἀνεπίδεκτος μετανοίας, ὅτι καὶ ἀσώματος· ὁ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἀσθένειαν τῆς μετανοίας ἔτυχεν. Ἀθάνατος οὐ φύσει, ἀλλὰ χάριτι· πᾶν γὰρ τὸ ἀρξάμενον καὶ τελευτᾷ κατὰ φύσιν. Μόνος δὲ ὁ θεὸς ἀεὶ ὤν, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸ ἀεί· οὐχ ὑπὸ χρόνον γάρ, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ χρόνον ὁ τῶν χρόνων ποιητής. Φῶτα δεύτερα νοερὰ ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου καὶ ἀνάρχου φωτὸς τὸν φωτισμὸν ἔχοντα, οὐ γλώσσης καὶ ἀκοῆς δεόμενα, ἀλλ' ἄνευ λόγου προφορικοῦ μεταδιδόντα ἀλλήλοις τὰ ἴδια νοήματα καὶ βουλήματα. ∆ιὰ τοῦ λόγου τοίνυν ἐκτίσθησαν πάντες οἱ ἄγγελοι καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος διὰ τοῦ ἁγιασμοῦ ἐτελειώθησαν κατ' ἀναλογίαν τῆς ἀξίας καὶ τῆς τάξεως τοῦ φωτισμοῦ καὶ τῆς χάριτος μετέχοντες. Περιγραπτοί· ὅτε γάρ εἰσιν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, οὔκ εἰσιν ἐν τῇ γῇ, καὶ εἰς τὴν γῆν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀποστελλόμενοι οὐκ ἐναπομένουσιν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ. Οὐ περιορίζονται δὲ ὑπὸ τειχῶν καὶ θυρῶν καὶ κλείθρων καὶ σφραγίδων· ἀόριστοι γάρ. Ἀορίστους δὲ λέγω· οὐ γάρ, καθό εἰσιν, ἐπιφαίνονται τοῖς ἀξίοις, οἷς ὁ θεὸς φαίνεσθαι αὐτοὺς θελήσει, ἀλλ' ἐν μετασχηματισμῷ, καθὼς δύνανται οἱ ὁρῶντες ὁρᾶν. «Ἀόριστον γάρ ἐστι φύσει καὶ κυρίως μόνον τὸ ἄκτιστον· πᾶν γὰρ κτίσμα ὑπὸ τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτὸ θεοῦ ὁρίζεται». Ἔξωθεν τῆς οὐσίας τὸν ἁγιασμὸν ἐκ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἔχοντες, διὰ τῆς θείας χάριτος προφητεύοντες, μὴ γάμου χρῄζοντες, ἐπειδήπερ μή εἰσι θνητοί. Νόες δὲ ὄντες ἐν νοητοῖς καὶ τόποις εἰσίν, οὐ σωματικῶς περιγραφόμενοι (οὐ γὰρ σωματικῶς κατὰ φύσιν σχηματίζονται οὐδὲ τριχῆ εἰσι διαστατοί), ἀλλὰ τῷ νοητῶς παρεῖναι καὶ ἐνεργεῖν, ἔνθα ἂν προσταχθῶσι, καὶ μὴ δύνασθαι κατὰ ταὐτὸν ὧδε κἀκεῖσε εἶναι καὶ ἐνεργεῖν. Εἴτε ἴσοι κατ' οὐσίαν εἴτε διαφέροντες ἀλλήλων, οὐκ ἴσμεν. Μόνος δὲ ὁ ποιήσας αὐτοὺς θεὸς ἐπίσταται, ὁ καὶ τὰ πάντα εἰδώς. ∆ιαφέροντες δὲ ἀλλήλων τῷ φωτισμῷ καὶ τῇ στάσει, εἴτε πρὸς τὸν φωτισμὸν τὴν στάσιν ἔχοντες ἢ πρὸς τὴν στάσιν τοῦ φωτισμοῦ μετέχοντες, καὶ ἀλλήλους φωτίζοντες διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς τάξεως ἢ φύσεως. ∆ῆλον δέ, ὡς οἱ ὑπερέχοντες τοῖς ὑποβεβηκόσι μεταδιδόασι τοῦ τε φωτισμοῦ καὶ τῆς γνώσεως. Ἰσχυροὶ καὶ ἕτοιμοι πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θείου θελήματος ἐκπλήρωσιν καὶ πανταχοῦ εὐθέως εὑρισκόμενοι, ἔνθα ἂν ἡ θεία κελεύσῃ ἐπίνευσις, τάχει φύσεως, καὶ φυλάττοντες μέρη τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐθνῶν καὶ τόπων προϊστάμενοι, καθὼς ὑπὸ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ ἐτάχθησαν, καὶ τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκονομοῦντες καὶ βοηθοῦντες ἡμῖν· πάντως δὲ ὅτι κατὰ τὸ θεῖον θέλημά τε καὶ πρόσταγμα ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς ὄντες ἀεί τε περὶ θεὸν ὑπάρχοντες. ∆υσκίνητοι πρὸς τὸ κακὸν ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀκίνητοι, νῦν δὲ καὶ ἀκίνητοι, οὐ φύσει ἀλλὰ χάριτι καὶ τῇ τοῦ μόνου ἀγαθοῦ προσεδρείᾳ. Ὁρῶντες θεὸν κατὰ τὸ ἐφικτὸν αὐτοῖς καὶ ταύτην τροφὴν ἔχοντες. Ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς ὄντες ὡς ἀσώματοι καὶ παντὸς σωματικοῦ πάθους ἀπηλλαγμένοι, οὐ μὴν ἀπαθεῖς· μόνον γὰρ τὸ θεῖον ἀπαθές ἐστι. Μετασχηματίζονται δέ, πρὸς ὅπερ ἂν ὁ δεσπότης κελεύσῃ θεός, καὶ οὕτω τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπιφαίνονται καὶ τὰ θεῖα αὐτοῖς ἀποκαλύπτουσι