The Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete – Prayers of Repentance for Lent

Feb 27, 2023

“The Judge is near, even at the very gate. Life is passing away, as a dream, and as a flower.”

Supporting The WM Review through book purchases
As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases through our Amazon links. Click here for The WM Review Reading List (with direct links for US and UK readers).

Image: Cain leads Abel to his Death – Tissot. The incident is mentioned elsewhere in The Great Canon. Wiki Commons.

St Andrew of Crete died in the eighth century in Damascus. He became a monk at the age of fifteen in Jerusalem. He is mainly known as a hymnographer. The Byzantine liturgy says of him:

“Guide of orthodoxy, mirror of piety and exemplary behavior, bright star of the universe and adornment of
pontiffs, you enlightened us all by your teaching. O wise Andrew, inspired by God and lyre of the Holy Spirit, intercede with Christ God that He may save our souls.” (Raya, Byzantine Daily Worship)

The following stanzas are taken from what is known to the Byzantine rite as The Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete.

This canon is extremely long, and full of biblical typology. For example – explaining the choice of picture above – in one section, the confesses having shared in Cain’s murder by having murdered his own soul; he also confesses having neglected offering the acceptable gifts of Abel, and instead a polluted sacrifice and a worthless life.

The Byzantine Church sings it in four parts at Compline on the first days of Lent, and again in full on Thursday in their Fifth Week of Lent.

Below are the extracts given by Dom Prosper Guéranger in The Liturgical Year, Vol. 5 (Lent), supplemented with the extracts given by Archbishop Joseph Raya in his Byzantine Daily Worship. We publish them today to encourage us all in their observation of Lent, as well as our appreciation of the Byzantine Liturgy.

Monday of the First Week of the Great Fast
Ode I

I would mourn over the sins of my wretched life; but where shall I begin? O Jesus how shall I commence the lamentation I fain would make this day? Do thou, my merciful God, forgive me my sins.

Come, my poor soul, and thou, too, my body, come, and confess to the great Creator and henceforth, restrain you senseless passions, and offer to God the tears of repentance.

I have imitated my first parent in his sin; I acknowledge my nakedness, for I have lost my God, and the kingdom and the joys of eternity.

Alas, unhappy soul! where fore hast thou made thyself like unto Eve! Oh that guilty look! Oh that cruel wound! Thou didst stretch forth thy hand to the tree and, in thy frowardness, didst eat the forbidden fruit.

Adam was deservedly driven out of Paradise, because he broke one of thy commandments, O my Saviour! I, then, who am for ever setting thy life-giving words at defiance, what punishment shall I not have?

Now is the time for repentance. I come to thee, my Creator! Take from me the heavy yoke of sin, and, for thy mercy’s sake, pardon me my crimes.

Despise me not, my Saviour! Cast me not away from thy face. Take from me the heavy yoke of sin, and, for thy mercy’s sake, pardon me my crimes.

Do thou, my Saviour, and my merciful God, pardon me my sins, deliberate or indeliberate, public or private, known or unknown. Have mercy on me, and save me!

Ode IV

The Prophet trembled when he heard that thou, O Lord, wast to come: that thou wast to be born of a Virgin, and made visible to the world. He said: I heard thy hearing, and was afraid. Glory be to thy power, O Lord!

Despise not, O just Judge, thy works: turn not away from the creature thou hast formed. My sins are indeed all my own work; but thou, O merciful Jesus, as Man above all men, hast power to forgive sin, for thou art the Lord of the universe.

Thy end is near, O my soul! How comes it thou art heedless? How is it, that thou art making no preparation? Time presses; arise! The Judge is near, even at the very gate. Life is passing away, as a dream, and as a flower. Why trouble we ourselves with vain things?

Recover thyself, O my soul! Recall to mind the acts of thy life; bring them before thee, and let thine eyes shed tears over them. Openly confess thy deeds and thoughts to Christ, and be justified.

There is no sin, or evil action, or wickedness, which I, O Jesus! have not committed in mind and thought and intention. None ever sinned more grievously than I, in desire, in judgment, and in deed.

Therefore have I incurred damnation; therefore is sentence given against me, a wretched sinner, whose own conscience is my judge, and whose crimes surpass all that this world has seen. Do thou, my Judge, my Redeemer, and my Witness, spare and deliver and save thy servant.

My life is short, and filled with labour and trouble: but do thou receive me, for I repent; call me back unto thee, for I acknowledge thee to be my Lord. Let me not become the property and prey of any but thee. Thou art my Saviour; have mercy on me.

My words are haughty, and my heart presumptuous. Condemn me not with the Pharisee, but give me, O thou the one only merciful God, the humility of the Publican, and number me with him, O my just Judge!

I have made myself my idol, and my sins have corrupted my soul: but do thou receive me, for I repent; call me back unto thee, for I acknowledge thee to be my Lord. Let me not become the property and prey of any but thee. Thou art my Saviour; have mercy on me.

Thursday of the First Week of the Great Fast
Ode VII

We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have acted; unjustly against thee, neither have we served thee, nor have done what thou hast commanded: but abandon us not forever, O thou the God of our fathers!

I have sinned, I have done wickedly, I have broken thy commandment; for I was born in sins, and have added wound to wound: but thou art merciful, and the God of our fathers; have mercy on me!

To thee, O my Judge, have I made known the hidden things of my heart: see me now humbled before thee; see, too, my affliction, and be attentive to my judgment. O thou that art merciful, and the God of our fathers, have mercy on me!

I have disfigured thine image, and have broken thy commandment: all my beauty is obscured, O my Saviour, and my lamp is put out, by my sins. But have mercy on me, and restore joy unto me, as David sings.

Be converted, my soul! Do penance; reveal thy hidden sins; say to thy God, who knoweth all things: thou, my only Saviour, knowest all things; do thou, as David sings, have mercy on me according to thy great mercy.

My days have vanished as the dream of one that wakeneth; wherefore, like Ezechias, I weep on my couch and beseech thee to add to the years my life. But who, O my soul, can be thine Isaias and help thee, but he that is the God of all?

Some further extracts from
Byzantine Daily Worship
Archbishop Joseph Raya

O Christ, where shall I begin to mourn the deeds of my wretched life? Where shall I start this mourning? Since You are compassionate, grant me the forgiveness of my sins.