those who are sent in ministry
do not assist.

_I answer that,_ The angels are spoken of as "assisting" and
"administering," after the likeness of those who attend upon a king;
some of whom ever wait upon him, and hear his commands immediately;
while others there are to whom the royal commands are conveyed by
those who are in attendance--for instance, those who are placed at
the head of the administration of various cities; these are said to
administer, not to assist.

We must therefore observe that all the angels gaze upon the Divine
Essence immediately; in regard to which all, even those who minister,
are said to assist. Hence Gregory says (Moral. ii) that "those who
are sent on the external ministry of our salvation can always assist
and see the face of the Father." Yet not all the angels can perceive
the secrets of the Divine mysteries in the clearness itself of the
Divine Essence; but only the superior angels who announce them to the
inferior: and in that respect only the superior angels belonging to
the highest hierarchy are said to assist, whose special prerogative
it is to be enlightened immediately by God.

From this may be deduced the reply to the first and second
objections, which are based on the first mode of assisting.

Reply Obj. 3: Satan is not described as having assisted, but as
present among the assistants; for, as Gregory says (Moral. ii),
"though he has lost beatitude, still he has retained a nature like to
the angels."

Reply Obj. 4: All the assistants see some things immediately in the
glory of the Divine Essence; and so it may be said that it is the
prerogative of the whole of the highest hierarchy to be immediately
enlightened by God; while the higher ones among them see more than is
seen by the inferior; some of whom enlighten others: as also among
those who assist the king, one knows more of the king's secrets than
another.
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FOURTH ARTICLE [I, Q. 112, Art. 4]

Whether All the Angels of the Second Hierarchy Are Sent?

Objection 1: It would seem that all the angels of the second
hierarchy are sent. For all the angels either assist, or minister,
according to Dan. 7:10. But the angels of the second hierarchy do
not assist; for they are enlightened by the angels of the first
hierarchy, as Dionysius says (Coel. Hier. viii). Therefore all the
angels of the second hierarchy are sent in ministry.

Obj. 2: Further, Gregory says (Moral. xvii) that "there are more who