The six-winged seraphim stand closer than all before God, as the prophet Isaiah saw, saying: "And the seraphim stood around Him, each having six wings" (Isaiah 6:2). They are fire-like since they stand before God: "For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb 12:29); "His throne was a flame of fire" (Dan 7:9); "the appearance of the Lord was like a blazing fire" (Ex 24:17). Standing before such glory, the seraphim are fire-like, as it said: "Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire" (Ps 103:4). They are aflame with love for God and kindle others to such love, as is shown by their very name, for "seraphim" in the Hebrew language means flaming.
|First Hierarchy: Seraphim | Cherubim | Thrones|
|Second Hierarchy: Powers | Dominions | Principalities|
|Third Hierarchy: Virtues | Archangels | Angels|