c triad, immediately ministers to men. The sources of
these names are evident: seraphim and cherubim are from the Old
Testament; later Jewish writings gave names to archangels and angels,
who also fill important functions in the New Testament. The other names
are from Paul (Eph. i. 21; Col. i. 16).

Such is the system of Pseudo-Dionysius, as presented mainly in _The
Celestial Hierarchy_. That work is followed by _The Ecclesiastical
Hierarchy_, its counterpart on earth. What the primal triune Godhead is
to the former, Jesus is to the latter. The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy
likewise is composed of Triads. The first includes the symbolic
sacraments: Baptism, Communion, Consecration of the Holy Chrism. Baptism
signifies purification; Communion signifies enlightening; the Holy
Chrism signifies perfecting. The second triad is made up of the three
orders of Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons, or rather, as the Areopagite
names them: Hierarchs, Light-bearers, Servitors. The third triad
consists of monks, who are in a state of perfection, the initiated
laity, who are in a state of illumination, and the catechumens, in a
state of purification. All worship, in this treatise, is a celebration
of mysteries, and the pagan mysteries are continually suggested by the
terms employed.

The work _Concerning the Divine Names_ is a noble discussion of the
qualities which may be predicated of God, according to the warrant of
the terms applied to him in Scripture. The work _Concerning Mystic
Theology_ explains the function of symbols, and shows that he who would
know God truly must rise above them and above the conceptions of God
drawn from sensible things.

The works of Pseudo-Dionysius began to influence theological thought in
the West from the time of their translation into Latin by Erigena. Their
use may be followed through the writings of scholastic philosophers,
e.g. Peter Lombard, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and many others. In
poetry we find their influence in Dante, Spenser, Milton. The fifteenth
chapter of _The Celestial Hierarchy_ constituted the canon of symbolical
angelic lore for the literature and art of the middle ages. Therein the
author explains in what respect theology ascribes to angels the
qualities of fire, why the thrones are said to be _fiery_ ([Greek:
pyrinous]); why the seraphim are _burning_ ([Greek: emprestas]) as their
name indicates. The fiery form signifies, with Celestial Intelligences,
likeness to God. Dionysi