Oration on the Dignity of Man

...of love, the Cherub shines with the splendor of the intellect, and the Throne maintains the steadfastness of a judge. So, if, having devoted ourselves to the active life, we take upon ourselves the righteous care of those below us, we shall be strengthened by the stable firmness of the Throne. If, being free from tasks, we give ourselves over to contemplation in leisure, grasping the creator in his work and the work in the creator, we shall flash with the light of the Cherub. If we but catch fire with the consuming flame of love for the creator, we shall suddenly blaze up in the likeness of the Seraph.

Above the Throne, that is, over the righteous judge, sits God—the eternal judge. He flies above the Cherub—the contemplator—and warms him, almost reclining upon him. The Spirit of God hovers over the waters that are placed above the heavens and praise God in morning hymns 12 This refers to the "waters above the firmament" mentioned in Genesis and the Psalms, which in the Renaissance were often interpreted as the realm of pure spiritual intelligence.. Here the Seraph is the lover in God and God is in him; God and he are one.

We ought to strive for the supreme power of the Thrones by reasoning upon it, loving it, and exalting the Seraphim.

But how can anyone reason about the unknown or love the unknown? Moses loved the God whom he saw, and as a judge among the people, he established what he had first seen as a contemplator on the mountain. Thus, the Cherub standing in the middle prepares us with his light for the Seraphic fire and, in the same way, illuminates us for the judgment of the Throne. This is the portion of the first intellect, the order of Pallas Pallas refers to Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, symbolizing the intellectual path to the divine., which lies at the foundation of contemplative philosophy; this is what we must first imitate and what we must investigate and understand, so that we may ascend to the heights of love and descend well-instructed and ready for the performance of deeds.

However, if it is necessary to build our lives according to the pattern of the Cherubim, we must see how they live and what they do. But since it is impossible for us, being carnal and having a taste for worldly things, to achieve this, let us turn to the ancient fathers, who can give us many true testimonies about such matters, for they are close and akin to them. Let us consult the Apostle Paul, for when he was caught up to the third heaven, he saw what the host of Cherubim was doing 13 original: "2 Corinthians 12:2.". He will answer us that they are purified, then filled with light, and finally reach perfection, as Dionysius relates 14 Dionysius refers to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a Christian Neoplatonist whose works on the "Celestial Hierarchy" defined the three stages of spiritual ascent: purgation, illumination, and perfection.. In the same way, we, imitating the life of the Cherubim on earth—restraining the impulse of passions through the science of morality and dispersing the darkness of the intellect through disputation—purify the soul, washing away the filth of ignorance and vice, so that passions do not rage recklessly and the shameless reason does not occasionally run wild. Then we shall fill the purified and ordered soul with the light of natural philosophy, so as to then perfect it with the knowledge of divine things.

Not content with our holy fathers, let us consult the Patriarch Jacob, whose image shines in the place of glory. And the wisest father, who sleeps in the lower world and wakes in the celestial world, will give us counsel, but symbolically, as is his way. There is a ladder, he will say, which stretches from the depths of the earth to the summit of heaven and is divided into many steps. At the top of this ladder sits the Lord; the contemplating angels now ascend and now descend upon it 15 original: "Genesis 28:12.". And if we, passionately striving for the life of angels, are to attain it, then, I ask,