TO THE FELLOW-PRESBYTER TIMOTHY, DIONYSIUS THE PRESBYTER

 I will try to speak, so far as it is possible, calling upon Jesus, the beginning and perfection of all hierarchies. <3> According to the venerable asp

 for their own sanctity), that you will not impart any sacred word of the supereminent hierarchy to another besides your like-ranked, God-like initiato

 of salvation, and in thanksgiving for the divine goodness, having gathered them into the sacred place, at the beginning he sacredly recites a certain

 indicating symbolically a complete cleansing for the body being cleansed naturally through water. <2> But let this be for the imperfect an introductor

 a tradition, sacredly signifying, having stripped the one approaching of his former life, so to speak, and having released him even from the final tie

 <III.> But it is well that we have remembered this, which it is not lawful for me, passing it by, to praise any other of the hierarchical rites before

 being led up hierarchically in purity of the godlike state. Contemplation. <1> Come now, then, O good child, after the images, in order and sacredly t

 way of life and sacred teachings, or the hidden and mystical vision of the beloved and divine of the disciples, or the supramundane theology of Jesus

 still entangled by contrary either charms or disturbances. But also from them the vision and communion of the most holy things is withheld, and very r

 to be gathered and to partake of the peaceful union of the one, those who are divided against themselves. For if, illuminated by the contemplation and

 most suffering alteration. And wandering and turned aside from the straight path which leads to the truly existing God, and being subject to the destr

 being formed from us and proceeding unchangeably from the one according to nature towards our divisible nature, and through this beneficent love for h

 for vain glory the beautiful and fragrant assimilations according to virtue of the hidden God. For the hidden and supra-intellectual fragrant comeline

 not only having but also bestowing the power to act against contrary fear, and to those who have passed over from worse things to a sacred mind, they

 of the understanding of the divine goods but the sixfold position of the wings, as the oracles say, I do not think signifies a sacred number, accordi

 Jesus, the altar, the thearchic consecration of the divine minds, in whom, according to the oracle, being consecrated and mystically offered as whole

 Theology calls the more perfect initiation our hierarchy, describing it as the fulfillment and sacred consummation of that other. It is both celestial

 For even if some of the venerable symbols are performed by the priests, yet the priest will never effect the sacred divine birth without the most divi

 The mystery of the priestly consecrations. The hierarch, being brought forward to the hierarchical consecration, having bent both knees before the div

 the Spirit hierarchically confers the source-of-perfection consecrating rite, commanding the disciples, as the oracles say: “Not to depart from Jerusa

 <VI.> <1> These then are the priestly orders and allotments, their powers and energies and perfections. We must next relate the triad of orders being

 mysteries. Contemplation. <1> That he does not bend either of his feet, nor has the divinely transmitted oracles upon his head, but stands by the prie

 multiplying, it was borne to a fall. But it is possible to say sacredly concerning the heavenly hierarchy, that purification for the inferior beings i

 but having surveyed with other eyes the perishing pleasures of their own passions and having blessed the sacred life from which they have senselessly

 Only the catechumens are cast out from the sacred places. For this class is indeed wholly uninitiated in every sacred rite, and it is not lawful for i

 and having a sacred disposition for participation in them, as one conscious of his own littleness, should go to one of the holy men and ask him to bec

 must be attended to as moved by God. For, He who rejects you, he says, rejects me. <8> But let us return to what follows the aforesaid prayer. For

 to a divine father and sponsor of holy salvation. The hierarch, therefore, requires him who confesses that he will lead the child up to the sacred lif

TO THE FELLOW-PRESBYTER TIMOTHY, DIONYSIUS THE PRESBYTER

ON THE ECCLESIASTICAL HIERARCHY

<I.> <1> That our hierarchy, O most holy of holy children, is of the inspired and divine and God-working science and activity and perfection, it is necessary for us to demonstrate from the super-celestial and most holy oracles to those who have been perfected in the rite of the sacred initiation through hierarchical mysteries and traditions. But see that you do not reveal the holy of holies, but reverently honor the things of the hidden God with intellectual and invisible knowledge, keeping them unshared and undefiled by the uninitiated, communicating them reverently with holy illumination only to the holy among the holy. For thus, as theology has delivered to us its votaries, Jesus Himself, the most divine and super-essential Mind, the beginning and essence and most divine power of all hierarchy and sanctification and divine work, shines forth more manifestly and at the same time more intellectually to the blessed beings superior to us, and conforms them to His own light according to their capacity; and by our love for the good, which is directed to Him and directs us, He folds together our many diversities, and having perfected them into a uniform and divine life, state, and activity, He grants the sacred power of the divine priesthood, from which, coming to the holy activity of the priestly office, we ourselves become nearer to the beings above us by assimilation, according to our capacity, to the steadfast and unchangeable stability of their sacred constitution; and thus looking up toward the blessed and divine radiance of Jesus, and having sacredly contemplated whatever it is possible to see, and having been enlightened by the knowledge of the visions into the mystical science, we shall be able to become consecrated and consecrators, perfected and perfectors, luminous and God-working. <2> What, then, is the hierarchy of the Angels and Archangels, and of the super-celestial Principalities and Authorities and Powers and Dominions and divine Thrones, or of the beings of the same rank as the Thrones, which theology relates are nearest to and ever around and with God, calling them in the Hebrew tongue Cherubim and Seraphim, you will find by encountering the holy orders and divisions of their worlds and hierarchies, in which we, not worthily but as far as possible and as the theology of the most holy scriptures has guided, have sung the praises of their hierarchy. But it is necessary to say this much, that that hierarchy, and every hierarchy, including the one now celebrated by us, has one and the same power throughout the whole hierarchical transaction: for the hierarch himself, according as his essence and proportion and rank hold, to be perfected according to divine things and to be deified, and to impart to his subordinates, to each according to his worth, of the sacred deification that has come to him from God; and for the subordinates to follow their superiors, to lead the inferior upward, and for some to go before and, as far as possible, to lead others; and through this inspired and hierarchical harmony for each to partake, to the extent of his capacity, of the truly existing beautiful and wise and good. But the beings and orders above us, of which I have already made sacred mention, are bodiless, and their hierarchy is intellectual and super-celestial; but our own we see, in a manner analogous to ourselves, abounding in the variety of sensible symbols, by which we are hierarchically led up, in a measure suitable to us, to the uniform deification [God and divine virtue]. They, as minds, understand in the way permitted to them; but we are led up by sensible images to divine contemplations, as far as possible. And to speak truly, there is one thing which all who are of one form desire, but they do not partake uniformly of that which is the same and one, but as the divine scales apportion to each his lot according to his worth. But these things have been spoken of by us more fully in the treatise *On Things Intellectual and Sensible*, but now our hierarchy, its beginning and essence

ΤΩι ΣΥΜΠΡEΣΒΥΤEΡΩι ΤIΜOΘEΩι ∆IOΝΥΣIOΣ O ΠΡEΣΒΥΤEΡOΣ

ΠEΡI ΤHΣ EΚΚΛHΣIAΣΤIΚHΣ IEΡAΡΧIAΣ

<I.> <1> Ὅτι μὲν ἡ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἱεραρχία, παίδων ἱερῶν ἱερώτατε, τῆς ἐνθέου καὶ θείας ἐστὶ καὶ θεουργικῆς ἐπιστήμης καὶ ἐνεργείας καὶ τελειώσεως, ἐκ τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων καὶ ἱερωτάτων ἡμᾶς ἀποδεῖξαι λογίων χρὴ τοῖς τῆς ἱερᾶς μυσταγωγίας τὴν τελετὴν ἐξ ἱεραρχικῶν μυστηρίων καὶ παραδόσεων τετελεσμένοις. Ἀλλ' ὅρα, ὅπως οὐκ ἐξορχήσῃ τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων, εὐλαβηθήσῃ δὲ καὶ τὰ τοῦ κρυφίου θεοῦ ταῖς νοεραῖς καὶ ἀοράτοις γνώσεσι τιμήσεις ἀμέθεκτα μὲν αὐτὰ καὶ ἄχραντα τοῖς ἀτελέστοις διατηρῶν, ἱεροῖς δὲ μόνοις τῶν ἱερῶν μεθ' ἱερᾶς ἐλλάμψεως ἱεροπρεπῶς κοινωνῶν. Oὕτω γάρ, ὡς ἡ θεολογία τοῖς θιασώταις ἡμῖν παραδέδωκε, καὶ αὐτὸς Ἰησοῦς, ὁ θεαρχικώτατος νοῦς καὶ ὑπερούσιος, ἡ πάσης ἱεραρχίας ἁγιαστείας τε καὶ θεουργίας ἀρχὴ καὶ οὐσία καὶ θεαρχικωτάτη δύναμις, ταῖς τε μακαρίαις καὶ ἡμῶν κρείττοσιν οὐσίαις ἐμφανέστερον ἅμα καὶ νοερώτερον ἐλλάμπει καὶ πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον αὐτὰς ἀφομοιοῖ κατὰ δύναμιν φῶς ἡμῶν τε τῷ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀνατεινομένῳ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἀνατείνοντι τῶν καλῶν ἔρωτι συμπτύσσει τὰς πολλὰς ἑτερότητας καὶ εἰς ἑνοειδῆ καὶ θείαν ἀποτελειώσας ζωὴν ἕξιν τε καὶ ἐνέργειαν ἱεροπρεπῆ δωρεῖται τῆς θείας ἱερωσύνης τὴν δύναμιν, ἐξ ἧς ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν ἐρχόμενοι τῆς ἱερατείας ἐνέργειαν ἐγγύτεροι μὲν αὐτοὶ γινόμεθα τῶν ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς οὐσιῶν τῇ κατὰ δύναμιν ἀφομοιώσει τοῦ μονίμου τε καὶ ἀνεξαλλάκτου τῆς αὐτῶν ἱερᾶς ἱδρύσεως καὶ ταύτῃ πρὸς τὴν μακαρίαν Ἰησοῦ καὶ θεαρχικὴν αὐγὴν ἀναβλέψαντες ὅσα τε ἰδεῖν ἐφικτὸν ἐποπτεύσαντες ἱερῶς καὶ τῆς τῶν θεαμάτων γνώσεως ἐλλαμφθέντες τὴν μυστικὴν ἐπιστήμην ἀφιερώμενοι καὶ ἀφιερωταὶ φωτοειδεῖς καὶ θεουργικοὶ τετελεσμένοι καὶ τελεσιουργοὶ γενέσθαι δυνησόμεθα. <2> Τίς μὲν οὖν ἡ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐστὶ καὶ ἀρχαγγέλων ἱεραρχία καὶ τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων ἀρχῶν τε καὶ ἐξουσιῶν καὶ δυνάμεων κυριοτήτων τε καὶ θείων θρόνων ἢ τῶν ὁμοταγῶν τοῖς θρόνοις οὐσιῶν, ἃς ἡ θεολογία προσεχῶς καὶ ἀεὶ περὶ θεόν τε εἶναι καὶ μετὰ θεοῦ παραδίδωσι Χερουβὶμ αὐτὰς Ἑβραίων φωνῇ καὶ Σεραφὶμ ὀνομάζουσα, ταῖς τῶν διακόσμων αὐτῶν καὶ ἱεραρχιῶν ἁγίαις τάξεσι καὶ διαιρέσεσι περιτυγχάνων εὑρήσεις, ἐν τούτοις ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐπαξίως μὲν ὡς ἐφικτὸν δὲ καὶ ὡς ἡ θεολογία τῶν ἱερωτάτων γραφῶν ὑφηγήσατο, τὴν κατ' αὐτοὺς ἱεραρχίαν ἀνυμνηκότων. Τοσοῦτον δὲ ὅμως εἰπεῖν ἀναγκαῖον, ὡς ἐκείνη τε καὶ πᾶσα καὶ ἡ νῦν ὑμνουμένη παρ' ἡμῶν ἱεραρχία μίαν ἔχει καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν διὰ πάσης τῆς ἱεραρχικῆς πραγματείας τὴν δύναμιν, αὐτόν τε τὸν ἱεράρχην, ὡς ἡ κατ' αὐτὸν οὐσία καὶ ἀναλογία καὶ τάξις ἔχει, τελεσθῆναι κατὰ τὰ θεῖα καὶ θεωθῆναι καὶ τοῖς ὑποβεβηκόσι μεταδοῦναι κατ' ἀξίαν ἑκάστῳ τῆς ἐγγενομένης αὐτῷ θεόθεν ἱερᾶς θεώσεως τούς τε ὑποβεβηκότας ἕπεσθαι μὲν τοῖς κρείττοσιν, ἀνατείνειν δὲ τοὺς ἥττους ἐπὶ τὰ πρόσω, τοὺς δὲ καὶ προϊέναι καὶ ὡς δυνατὸν ἑτέροις ἡγεῖσθαι, καὶ διὰ ταύτης τῆς ἐνθέου καὶ ἱεραρχικῆς ἁρμονίας τοῦ ὄντως ὄντος καλοῦ καὶ σοφοῦ καὶ ἀγαθοῦ μετέχειν ἕκαστον ὅση δύναμις. Ἀλλ' αἱ μὲν ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς οὐσίαι καὶ τάξεις, ὧν ἤδη μνήμην ἱερὰν ἐποιησάμην, ἀσώματοί τέ εἰσι καὶ νοητὴ καὶ ὑπερκόσμιός ἐστιν ἡ κατ' αὐτὰς ἱεραρχία, τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς δὲ ὁρῶμεν ἀναλόγως ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς τῇ τῶν αἰσθητῶν συμβόλων ποικιλίᾳ πληθυνομένην, ὑφ' ὧν ἱεραρχικῶς ἐπὶ τὴν ἑνοειδῆ θέωσιν ἐν συμμετρίᾳ τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀναγόμεθα [θεόν τε καὶ θείαν ἀρετήν]. Aἱ μὲν ὡς νόες νοοῦσι κατὰ τὸ αὐταῖς θεμιτόν, ἡμεῖς δὲ αἰσθηταῖς εἰκόσιν ἐπὶ τὰς θείας ὡς δυνατὸν ἀναγόμεθα θεωρίας, ἀληθῶς τε εἰπεῖν ἓν μέν ἐστιν οὗ πάντες οἱ ἑνοειδεῖς ἐφίενται, μετέχουσι δὲ οὐχ ἑνιαίως ταὐτοῦ τε καὶ ἑνὸς ὄντος, ἀλλ' ὡς ἑκάστῳ τὰ θεῖα ζυγὰ διανέμει κατ' ἀξίαν τὴν ἀποκλήρωσιν. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἡμῖν ἐν τῇ Περὶ νοητῶν τε καὶ αἰσθητῶν πραγματείᾳ διεξοδικώτερον εἴρηται, νῦν δὲ τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς ἱεραρχίαν ἀρχήν τε αὐτῆς καὶ οὐσίαν