Cherubim and Seraphim

I was reading a parody on CatholicVote.org which included this:

We were going over the purgatory numbers for last quarter and all of a sudden the door bursts open and in flies one of the seraphim.  Or maybe cherubim, I don’t know, hard to tell sometimes.

 

Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones (top to bottom)

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Cherubim:

 The word cherub (cherubim is the Hebrew masculine plural) is a word borrowed from the Assyrian kirubu, from karâbu, "to be near", hence it means near ones, familiars, personal servants, bodyguards, courtiers. It was commonly used of those heavenly spirits, who closely surrounded the Majesty of God and paid Him intimate service.





Seraphim:

 The name, a Hebrew masculine plural form, designates a special class of heavenly attendants of Yahweh's court.

 Although described under a human form, with faces, hands, and feet (Isaiah 6:2, 6), they are undoubtedly existing spiritual beings corresponding to their name, and not mere symbolic representations as is often asserted by advanced Protestant scholars. Their number is considerable, as they appear around the heavenly throne in a double choir and the volume of their chorus is such that the sound shakes the foundations of the palace.