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Of the possessed: Of those who are possessed by demons and turned to licentiousness, about whom he also speaks in the chapter before this one: He says 'terror,' as in tumult, fear, consternation, deceit.

But for those in mind: He speaks concerning those in repentance. They lead: An orderly sequence and ascent suitable for the saints. The unitive: He says the unitive is that which is towards the one, that is, the one who sees the Divine

very mind, which he says is also united to that very one and is fulfilled by its union.

§ 4. What then: Read the passage as a question. For if the one of: That the perceptible fragrance nourishes the sense and makes it well-disposed. Of the critical: He says the critical is the discerning faculty of the soul, that is, the intellectual, which unless

it be pure of the inclination toward the worse, he says it will not come to be in perception of the divine fragrance.

Bliss: Wealth. Being pleased: Instead of being fragrant. § 5. Of that according to mind: That which is according to mind, in the case of angels. It is signified by the number twelve: Of what are the 12 wings a type. Note the

greatness of the seraphim. (14E_392> Theology: "Holy, holy, holy." And of evil at the same time: Note that not only of evil, but also of forgetfulness are they without share

the powers above, says the father. Knowledge: He has well connected intellection with knowledge, for precise understanding concerning

anything produces knowledge of it. § 6. Therefore the: What is the property of the seraphim, and that he foretold this. Of the super-celestial: He says in the treatise On the Celestial Hierarchy. § 7. Therefore the one thing: Contemplation of the holy seraphim. Note the whole passage,

how he grants us in it to understand the things written in the prophets concerning the powers above.

A sixfold disposition: He calls the six wings a sixfold disposition. First and middle: It has been said in the preceding parts, how one must understand the first

and middle and last powers of the intellectual beings. Formation: For they do not have real wings. Of the wings: Note, how he understood the things concerning the wings of the seraphim,

and that they flew with their whole selves, having nothing inferior and lowly. § 8. But if the faces: Note a most beautiful and strange contemplation, why the

seraphim cover their faces and their feet with their wings, but with the middle ones they fly.

§ 9. And this too: Interpretation of the seraphim. § 10. Of the essential: In the discourse On the Celestial Hierarchy it was made clear,

what an essential state is in the case of angels, in the seventh chapter. a'. He did not ignore: That the holy angels also know that Jesus who sanctifies also

was sanctified, and when, and how. Having come down: That is, having become man. (14E_394> b'. By the Father: He says this because the activity of the holy

Trinity is one. Note the incomparable orthodoxy of the great Dionysius, and how he guarded all things of the divinity of the Lord Jesus, as God, and he himself as man was sanctified both by the Father and by himself, since he is also God, and by the Holy Spirit, the heavenly orders also knowing their own principle, that is, their cause and creator, Jesus, that even if he is sanctified, still

92

Ἐνεργουμένων: Τῶν δαιμονώντων καί εἰς ἀσέλγειαν τετραμμένων, περί ὧν καί ἐν τῷ πρό τοὑτου κεφαλαίῳ φησι: 'Πτοίαν' δέ λέγει, οἱονεί θόρυβον, φόβον, πτόησιν, ἀπάτην.

Τοῖς δέ εἰς νοῦν: ∆ιά τούς ἐν μετανοίᾳ φησίν. Ἄγουσιν: Εὔτακτος ἀκολουθία καί ἀνάβασις τοῖς ἁγίοις κατάλληλος. Τό ἑνοειδές: Τό ἑνοειδές φησι τό πρός τό ἕν, ἤγουν τόν τό Θεῖον ὁρῶντα

αὐτόν νοῦν, ὅν καί ἑνοῦσθαι λέγει πρός αὐτό τό ἕν καί τῆς τούτου ἀποπληροῦσθαι ἑνώσεως.

§ 4. Τί δέ: Κατ' ἐρώτησιν ἀνάγνωθι τό χωρίον. Εἰ γάρ ἡ τῶν: Ὅτι ἡ αἰσθητή εὐωδία τρέφει τήν αἴσθησιν καί εὐεκτεῖν ποιεῖ. Κριτικοῦ: Κριτικόν φησι τό τῆς ψυχῆς διακριτικόν, ἤτοι τό νοερόν, ὅπερ εἰ μή

τῆς ἐπί τό χεῖρον ροπῆς καθαρεύοι, οὐκ ἄν ἐν αἰσθήσει τῆς θείας εὐωδίας γενήσεσθαι λέγει.

Ὅλβον: Πλοῦτον. Ἡδόμενοι: Ἀντί τοῦ εὐωδιαζόμενοι. § 5. Τῆς κατά νοῦν: Τό κατά νοῦν, ἐπί ἀγγέλων. ∆υοκαιδεκάδι σημαίνεται: Τἰνος τύπος αἱ ιβ' πτέρυγες. Σημείωσαι δέ τό

μέγεθος τῶν σεραφίμ. (14Ε_392> Θεολογίαν: «Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος». Κακίας τε ἅμα: Σημείωσαι, ὅτι οὐ μόνον κακίας, ἀλλά καί λήθης ἀμετόχους

τάς ἄνω δυνάμεις φησίν ὁ πατήρ. Ἐπιστήμην: Καλῶς συνῆψε τῇ ἐπιστήμῃ τήν νόησιν ἡ γάρ ἀκριβής περί

ὁτουοῦν κατανόησις ἐπιστήμην τούτου ἐργάζεται. § 6. Τάς μέν οὖν: Τίς ἡ ἰδιότης τῶν σεραφίμ, καί ὅτι ταύτην προεῖπε. Τῶν ὑπερουρανίων: Ἐν τῇ Περί τῆς οὐρανίας ἱεραρχίας πραγματείᾳ φησί. § 7. Τό μέν οὖν: Θεωρία τῶν ἁγίων σεραφίμ. Σημείωσαι ὅλον τό χωρίον,

ὅπως ἐκδίδωσιν ἐν αὐτῷ νοεῖν ἡμᾶς τά περί τῶν ἄνω δυνάμεων γεγράμμενα ἐν τοῖς προφήταις.

Ἑξαπλῆν θέσιν: Ἑξαπλῆν θέσιν τό ἕξ εἶναι πτέρυγάς φησι. Πρῶτα καί μέσα: Εἴρηται ἐν τοῖς πρό τούτου, πῶς χρή ἐκδέχεσθαι τάς πρώτας

καί μέσας καί τελευταίας δυνάμεις τῶν νοερῶν. ∆ιάπλασιν: Οὐ γάρ ἀληθῆ πτερά ἔχουσι. Τῶν πτερῶν: Σημείωσαι δέ, πῶς ἔλαβε τά περί τῶν πτερύγων τῶν σεραφίμ,

καί ὅτι καθ' ὅλον αὐτά ἵπταντο, μηδέν ἔχοντα ὑφειμένον καί ταπεινόν. § 8. Εἰ δέ τά πρόσωπα: Σημείωσαι ὡραιοτάτην θεωρίαν καί ξένην, διά τί οἱ

σεραφίμ τά πρόσωπα καί τούς πόδας καλύπτουσι τοῖς πτεροῖς, τοῖς δέ μέσοις πέτανται.

§ 9. Καί τοῦτο δέ: Ἑρμηνεία τῶν σεραφίμ. § 10. Τῆς οὐσιώδους: Ἐν τῷ Περί τῆς οὐρανίας ἱεραρχίας λόγῳ ἐσαφηνίσθη,

τί ἐστιν ἐπί ἀγγέλων οὐσιώδης ἕξις, ἐν ἑβδόμῳ κεφαλαίῳ. α'. Οὐκ ἠγνόησεν: Ὅτι καί οἱ ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι ἴσασιν, ὅτι ὁ ἁγιάζων Ἰησοῦς καί

ἡγιάσθη, καί πότε, καί πῶς. Κατεληλυθότα: Τουτέστιν ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον. (14Ε_394> β'. Πρός τοῦ Πατρός: Τοῦτό φησι διά τό μίαν εἶναι τῆς ἁγίας

Τριάδος τήν ἐνέργειαν. Σημείωσαι δέ τήν ἀπαράβλητον ὀρθοδοξίαν τοῦ μεγάλου ∆ιονυσίου, καί πῶς ἐφύλαξε τῆς θεότητος τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, ὡς Θεός, πάντα, καί αὐτός ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἡγιάσθη ὑπό τε τοῦ Πατρός καί ὑφ' ἑαυτοῦ, ἐπεί καί Θεός, καί ὑπό τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, εἰδυιῶν καί τῶν οὐρανίων τάξεων τήν ἰδίαν ἀρχήν, τουτέστι, τόν αἴτιον αὐτῶν καί τόν δημιουργόν τόν Ἰησοῦν, ὅτι κἄν ἁγιάζηται, ἀλλ'