Blessed are you on the glorious throne of your kingdom: and to be praised and glorified above all for ever.
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Cyril of Jerusalem
AD 386
Do you want to have proof concerning the incomprehensibility of the divine nature? Try looking at the three children who praised the Lord in the fiery furnace, saying, “Blessed are you who behold the depths and sit over the cherubim.” Tell me the nature of the cherubim, and then look on him or the nature of him who sits over them! And yet, Ezekiel within the limits of possibility offered a description of them, saying, “Every one has four faces, the first of a man, the second one of lion, the third of an eagle and the last one of a year-old calf; every one has six wings and has eyes on every side; under each there is a spinning wheel of four sides.” But in spite of these descriptions that he made, we cannot succeed in constructing for ourselves an exact idea of what he was talking about. If we cannot understand what the throne is that the prophet has described, how will we succeed in comprehending the one who sits on the throne, when he is invisible and mysterious? It is impossible then...
Here you see not only the yoke of an animal but also the chariots of the infinitude of martyrs and God who is above these chariots and leads them to heaven. Regarding the souls of the saints being the chariots of God, listen to what the prophet says, “The chariots of God are thousands on thousands.” What he gave to the heavenly powers, he has also given to our nature. He is seated on the cherubim, as the psalm says, “He rode on a cherub and flew,” and, “He who sits on the cherubim and looks into the depths.” And this is what he has also given to us. He sits on them; he dwells in us. “I will dwell in you and walk among you.” They became a chariot; we become a temple. Have you noticed the relationship of honor? Have you noticed how he has mollified both what is higher and what is lower? For this reason, if we desire it, we differ from the angels in nothing. - "Sermon on the Holy Martyrs"
