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Icon nb 29a
Size : 36 x 28 cm.
Linden board
Gilded background and haloes. Egg tempera.
The word "angel" means "messenger". They are bodyless spirits who announce to people the divine will. Angels live everywhere, but mainly in Heaven, around the Throne of God. Angels are sent to earth for the service of men.
The number of the Angels is incommensurably large and God, when he created the angelic Hierarchy, instituted an order in the Celestial Armies. They are divided into nine orders which are called as follows: Thrones, Cherubims, Seraphims, Dominions, Powers, Authorities, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.
Each angelic degree has a precise function. The order of Angels is the nearest to the human condition followed by the Archangels who are seven:
The archangel Michael (name that means "Who is like God")
The archangel Gabriel ("God is mighty")
The archangel Raphael ("God's healer")
The archangel Uriel ("God's fire and light")
The archangel Sealtiel ("the one who prays to God")
The archangel Jehudiel ("the one who glorifies God")
The archangel Barachiel ("the Blessing of God").
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