The Virtues — also called the Strongholds or the Mights — are the angelic order of divine power and grace: the celestial beings through whom God works miracles, governs the movements of the heavens, and pours strength into the faithful. They stand at the heart of the second triad of the nine angelic choirs, the orders that administer the cosmos.
The Workers of Miracles
Their name, from the Latin virtus, “power” or “might,” declares their office. The Virtues are the bestowers of grace and valor, the angels who channel divine energy into the world to accomplish the wonders that exceed nature. Signs and miracles in the world are attributed to their working — they are the agents through whom heaven’s power breaks into the order of creation. To them, tradition assigns the governance of the heavenly bodies and the regulation of the cosmos’s vast machinery, ensuring the stars keep their courses.
Strength for the Faithful
Beyond the cosmos, the Virtues are the source of fortitude and courage poured into human hearts. They strengthen the weak, embolden the fearful, and grant the grace to endure trials and to work good beyond ordinary capacity. The saints and heroes of faith who accomplished the impossible were said to be sustained by the Virtues, the angels whose gift is supernatural strength of will and spirit.
Power in the Service of Order
Ranked fifth among the nine choirs, between the [dominions] who govern and the [powers-angels] who defend, the Virtues hold the middle place in the administration of heaven. They receive the divine commands transmitted by the higher orders and translate them into the active force that moves the world. In the Virtues, the angelic hierarchy gave a face to the very idea of divine power in action — not raw might, but might wholly directed toward the good, the strength by which both the heavens turn and the human heart is made brave.