Andrew of Crete

Irmos: A Helper and Protector hath He become for me unto salvation; this is my God, and I will glorify Him, the God of my father, and I will exalt Him; for gloriously hath He been glorified.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of all, take from me now the heavy burden of sin, and as Thou lovest mankind, grant me tears of repentance.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

I fall down before Thee, O Jesus; I have sinned against Thee; be gracious to me; take from me now the heavy burden of sin, and as Thou lovest mankind, grant me tears of repentance.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Enter not into judgement with me, bringing up my evil deeds, nor search out my words; but direct my ways in Thy goodness, disregard my evil deeds, and save me, O Almighty.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

In the time of repentance I come to Thee, my Creator: take from me now the heavy burden of sin, and as Thou lovest mankind, grant me tears of repentance.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

My riches, O Christ, I have wasted in prodigality, and I am empty of good fruits; and now, starving, I cry: O Father of mercies, make haste and save me.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

Draw to thyself the commandments of the divine law of Christ, and so leave the pleasures of the flesh, and set aright, as one, all the virtues of good works.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O Trinity beyond being, worshipped in one Godhead, take from me now the heavy burden of sin, and as Thou lovest mankind, grant me tears of repentance.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O Theotokos, hope of all who sing to thee, take from me now the heavy burden of sin, and as thou lovest mankind, grant me tears of repentance.

Irmos: Behold, behold, for I am the King who gave the manna and made the springs flow from the rock in the wilderness for My people, by My right hand alone and by My strength.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

“I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt,” cried Lamech, lamenting; and thou, O soul, dost not tremble, who hast corrupted the flesh and defiled the mind with boldness.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Thou didst set thy hand, O my soul, to build a city and raise a tower of thy desires, had not God confounded thy counsels and cast down to earth thine evil devices.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

O how have I rivalled Lamech of old in murder! For the soul as the man and the mind as the youth, and the body like my brother, I have slain, like Cain the murderer, through love of pleasure and heedlessness.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Of old the Lord rained fire from the Lord and in wrath burned up the Sodomites for their iniquity; but thou, O soul, hast kindled the fire of Gehenna, in which thou art to be burned.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

I am wounded and pierced, for the arrows of the evil one are now aimed at my soul and body; behold the sores of my struggles, for which I cry to Thee: heal my wilful passions.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

Thou didst stretch out thy hands to the good God, O Mary, drowned in the evil abyss of the storm, and didst say: As to Peter, O Lover of mankind, stretch out Thy divine hand to me, that I may be saved from all the passions.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O Trinity without beginning and unbegotten, O undivided Unity, look upon me who repent, save me a sinner, for I am Thy creature; and deliver me from the fire of my condemnation.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O incorrupt Virgin, Mother of God, hope of those who flee to thee and our helper: make thy Son, the Creator who loveth mankind, merciful to me by thine intercession.

Irmos: Establish, O Lord, upon the rock of Thy commandments my shaken mind, for Thou alone art God, mighty, righteous and holy.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Thou art become like Hagar the Egyptian, O soul, by enslaving thy will, and thou hast borne a new Ishmael, bitter insolence.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Thou hast heard of Jacob’s ladder, O soul, set up from earth to heaven; why hast thou not the virtuous life as thy ladder?

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Imitate, O soul, by a lawful life the priest of God and king, the solitary one, the figure of Christ, the great Melchizedek.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Turn back and be ashamed, O wretched soul, before the hour of the end of thy life cometh upon thee, and before the door of the Lord’s bridal chamber is shut against thee.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Become not a pillar of salt, O soul, by looking back; let the example of the Sodomites terrify thee; flee to Zoar before the overthrow.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Turn not away, O Master, this supplication of us who sing to Thee, but have mercy on us, O Lover of mankind, and grant to these who ask in faith the forgiveness of sins.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O simple Trinity, uncreated nature, known in three Persons: save us who trust in Thy might.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The Son, timeless from the Father, thou didst bear in time, O Theotokos, without seed: O strange wonder! Thou remainest a Virgin while giving suck.

Irmos: The prophet heard of Thy coming, O Lord, and was afraid, that Thou wouldst be born of a Virgin and seen by men, and he cried: O Lord, I have heard the report of Thee and was afraid: glory to Thy power.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Short is the time of my life and full of evil; but receive me in repentance and call me to knowledge, that I become not the food of the beast, I who trust in Thee, O Saviour.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

A man adorned with royal honour, a crown and purple, a rich and righteous man, with many flocks and abounding in wealth and glory and kingship, became poor and helpless.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

If he was blameless and righteous above all, and yet did not escape the snares and devices of the deceiver, what wilt thou do, O wretched soul who lovest sin, if some unlooked-for trial befall thee?

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

I am bold in folly, vain and proud of heart; condemn me not like the Pharisee, but rather grant me the humility of the publican, O merciful and righteous Lord, and number me with him.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

I know, O Merciful One, that I have sinned and defiled the vessel of my flesh; but receive me in repentance and call me to knowledge, that I become not the food of the beast, I who trust in Thee, O Saviour.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

I, the wretched one, have set up the idols of the passions in my soul; but receive me in repentance and call me to knowledge, that I become not the food of the beast, I who trust in Thee, O Saviour.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

I have not hearkened to the Scriptures; I have disobeyed the voice of Thee, the Lawgiver; but receive me in repentance and call me to knowledge, that I become not the food of the beast, I who trust in Thee, O Saviour.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

Thou wast held fast in great and unutterable storms; but thou didst cast all this away from thee, for by thy good choice thou didst rise to what is better, and didst win a good contest, and wast glorified by the angels, O venerable mother Mary.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Undivided in essence, unconfused in Persons, I proclaim Thee the one Godhead in three, co-enthroned and of equal honour, and I sing to Thee the great hymn sung thrice-holy on high.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Thou givest birth and art a virgin, and in both remainest by nature a virgin; He who is born reneweth the laws of nature, and the womb giveth birth incorruptibly; for where God willeth, the order of nature is overcome, for He doeth whatsoever He will.

Irmos: From the night I rise early to Thee, O Lover of mankind: enlighten me, I pray, and guide me, O Sweet One, in Thy commandments, and teach me, O Good One, to do Thy will.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Come and fall down, O soul, at the feet of the Saviour, like the woman bowed together, that He may straighten thee again, and thou mayest walk rightly in the paths of the Lord.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Thou art the boundless abyss of mercy; therefore I entreat Thee: give me to drink from Thine incorrupt springs, O Lord, that like the Samaritan woman I may drink and thirst no more.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

May the streams of my tears be to me a Siloam, O God, that I may wash the eyes of my heart and behold Thee, the spiritual Light before the ages.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

With surpassing longing, O all-rich one, thou didst desire to venerate the Tree of life, and thou didst attain thy desire; make me also worthy to attain the glory on high, O venerable mother.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Thee, the Trinity, the one God, I praise with thrice-holy praise: the Father unbegotten, the Son begotten of Him, and the Spirit who proceedeth, simple in essence.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

From thee, O incorrupt Virgin and Mother, the Creator, who made the ages, took my lump, and united the Godhead to the nature of men.

Irmos: I cried from the depth of my heart to the merciful God, and He heard me from the nethermost hell, and brought my life up from corruption.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

I am the royal drachma, O Saviour, which Thou didst lose of old; but, having kindled the lamp, Thy Forerunner, O Word, seek and find Thine image.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Take up arms and strike down the passions of the flesh with courage, as Joshua did Amalek, and ever overcome the deceitful Gibeonites, thy thoughts.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

Thou didst ever pour forth the drops of tears, O Mary, to quench the flame of the passions, burning in soul; grant the same grace to me, thy servant.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

Thou didst gain heavenly dispassion by thy most exalted life on earth, O mother; wherefore by thine intercession pray for those who sing to thee, that they may be delivered from the passions.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

I am the perfect Trinity, undivided, distinguished in Persons, and I am the Unity joined in nature, saith the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, the source of Godhead.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Thy womb, O Bride, bore us God in human form; entreat Him, as the Cause of all, for our salvation, O Theotokos.

My soul, my soul, arise! Why sleepest thou? The end draweth near, and thou shalt be troubled. Awake, then, that Christ God may have mercy on thee, who is everywhere present and filleth all things.

Irmos: We have sinned and done iniquity and wrought falsehood before Thee; we have not kept nor done as Thou didst command us, O Master; but give us not up utterly, O Most High, God of our fathers.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

My days have vanished like a dream; therefore arise, O my soul, and weep upon thy bed like Hezekiah, that years of life may be added to thee; for no Isaiah will stand before thee, O soul, but the God of all.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

I fall down before Thee and pour out to Thee, as tears, my sighs: I have sinned more than the harlot, and have become lawless as no other man; but have mercy, O Master, on Thy creature.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

I have buried Thine image in the passions and made the beauty of Thy likeness foul and unprofitable, and the lamp of graces is gone out, O Deliverer; but in Thy sweetness restore to me joy, as David singeth.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Turn back and repent now, and reveal thy hidden things; say to Him who knoweth all: Forgive me, O Saviour, my unknown things; but have mercy on me according to Thy mercy, as David singeth.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

Crying to the most honourable Mother of God, before whom thou wast once turned back by thy sins from entering, and falling fervently before her icon that she might be merciful to thee, thou didst put to shame the evil enemy; now deliver me also, thy servant, from afflictions.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

Him whom thou didst love, whom thou didst long for, and for whose sake thou didst wear out thy flesh, O venerable one, entreat now for us His servants, that He may be merciful to us all and grant peace to those who honour thee.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

The simple and undivided Trinity, worshipped as one in essence, praised by the saints, Light and Lights, thrice-holy God, Life and Lives: glorify Him, O soul, and serve the one Godhead.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

We sing to thee, we worship thee and bless thee, O Mother of God, for thou didst bear One of the holy Trinity, Christ God, perfect and true, and thou hast opened to us on earth the entrances of heaven.

Irmos: Him whom the powers of heaven praise, before whom the Cherubim and Seraphim tremble, every creature, sing with all your soul, and exalt Him above all unto the ages.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

I pour out upon Thy head an alabaster of tears as of myrrh; I cry out like the harlot, I seek consolation, and I offer prayer for the forgiveness of my sins.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Though none hath sinned as I, yet have mercy on me, O sweet Saviour, who repent in fear and cry with trembling: I have sinned against Thee; have mercy, O most merciful One.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Be merciful, O Saviour, to Thy creature, and as a Shepherd find me who am lost; come to me who have strayed, deliver me from the wild beasts, and number me with the sheep of Thy flock.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

When Thou sittest to judge, as the Merciful One, and Thy lofty glory is revealed, what fear there will be, when the furnace roareth and all tremble in terror before Thy throne!

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

The unsetting Light enlightened thee, O mother, and delivered thee from the darkness of the passions; having received the grace of the Spirit, thou wast raised to heaven: enlighten us also, O Mary, who praise thee.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

Seeing a new wonder, O mother, Zosimas was amazed; for divine grace was truly made perfect in thee; he beheld thee an angel in the flesh, and was filled with fear, and sang to Christ unto the ages.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

O God the Father, and co-divine Son, and Comforter, upright Spirit; Father unbegotten, Word begotten, and Spirit proceeding: O Trinity in Unity, save me.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The purple robe of the King’s God-bearing flesh, dyed from thy blood, was woven within thy womb, O incorrupt one; wherefore we proclaim thee truly the Theotokos.

Irmos: She who conceived without seed giveth birth beyond all telling; without a husband the Mother conceiveth incorruptibly, for the birth of God changeth the laws of nature; wherefore all generations, O Bride and Mother of God, magnify thee unceasingly.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Look upon me in mercy, O Son of God, and save me, Thou who didst drive out demons with a word; and speak to me, as to the thief, the longed-for word: Amen, I say unto thee, thou shalt be with Me in My paradise, when I come again in glory.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

One thief blasphemed Thee, and the other called Thee God, though both were crucified with Thee; but, O my Deliverer, open to me also, like that faithful one who knew Thee as God, the doors of Thy kingdom, O Sweetest One.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Creation was troubled, seeing Thee crucified; mountains and rocks were split with fear, the earth quaked and hell was laid waste, and the light of the sun was darkened, when they beheld their Creator suffering on the Cross.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

Seek not from me worthy fruits of repentance, O Deliverer, for my strength hath failed within me; but give me ever a contrite heart and poverty of spirit, that I may offer these to Thee as a pleasing and acceptable sacrifice.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.

My Judge, my Judge, who art to come again to judge the world, look upon me with a merciful eye, O Deliverer, who above all human nature have sinned before Thee through folly.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

Thou didst amaze all by thy strange life, the ranks of angels and the assemblies of men; for by an immaterial life thou didst surpass nature, whereby, as with immaterial feet, O Mary, thou didst cross even the river Jordan.

O venerable mother Mary, pray to God for us.

Entreat the Creator for those who praise thee, O venerable mother, that we may be delivered from the evils, afflictions and passions that assail us and the trials that surround us, that we may unceasingly magnify thee who didst magnify the Lord.

Venerable father Andrew, pray to God for us.

O Andrew, thrice-blessed father, shepherd of Crete, pray for us who fervently sing to thee, that we may be delivered from wrath, affliction and countless sins, we who call upon thee in faith.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

We worship the Father, we exalt the Son above all, and we praise the upright Spirit in faith: Trinity in Persons and Unity in essence, as Light and Lights, as Life and Lives, giving life to all.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Guard thy city, O incorrupt Theotokos, which through thee reigneth divinely; through thee it hath its strength and through thee overcometh its enemies; it is set above trials, turneth back its foes, and ruleth those in its keeping.

The first six odes of Thursday’s canon return once more to the most ancient history: to the slaying of a man by Lamech, likened to the evil deed of Cain; to the birth of Ishmael from Hagar the Egyptian; and, in contrast to evil, to the ladder raised by Jacob to heaven and to Melchizedek as the example of “a lawful life”. Here the consequence of a lawless life is marked out once more; for the soul turned to repentance there must be no more former sins and no looking back: “Become not a pillar of salt, O soul, by looking back; let the example of the Sodomites terrify thee” (Thursday, Ode 3).

Here the figure of the Samaritan woman appears as well. I have lost every divine gift: “I have defiled the temple of my flesh, I have darkened the image and likeness with which I was honoured; I have blackened the brightness of the soul with the pleasures of the passions and turned my mind to earth; I have torn my first garment, which God wove for me from the beginning, and I lie naked.” — this is the chief lament of the sinful soul.

On all four days the same kontakion, “My soul…”, is included in the canon, in which a man calls his own soul to watchfulness and struggle; and at the end of the canon the troparion of St Andrew of Crete is sung.

Thus over four evenings the nine odes of the canon tell again and again the spiritual history of mankind, which is at the same time the history of our own soul: the soul of every person — unique and unrepeatable — travels the path of the same temptation, stands before the same choice, meets the same highest and most important reality;

the notion of “sin” in the biblical and Christian tradition has a depth and fullness that modern man is unable to grasp, and therefore the confession of sins in the canon is utterly different from present-day Christian reality.

Sin is man’s fall from a boundless spiritual height, his refusal of his own highest calling. Although the present world does not openly reject God, it is for the most part materialist, and so it regards human life only in terms of material well-being. Sin in it is understood above all as a natural weakness, to be rooted out by better social and economic organisation. That is why modern man, even when he acknowledges his sins, does not experience repentance. Either he formally lists his sins and the rules he has broken, or he talks to the priest about his problems and seeks from religion a kind of therapy, a treatment. Repentance that flows from the depths of human consciousness is very rare.

The meaning and purpose of the Great Canon lie precisely in setting sin before us and leading us to repentance. The canon reveals sin in us not by lists and reckoning, but by a deep contemplation of biblical history, which is truly a history of sin, repentance and forgiveness. This contemplation leads us to an altogether different spiritual culture. It moves us to take up a wholly different understanding of man, of his life, his purpose, his spiritual motives. The canon restores in us that spiritual sense of the world in whose depth repentance becomes possible again. When we hear, for example: “O wretched soul, why art thou become like the first Eve? For thou didst look and wast bitterly wounded; thou didst touch the tree and rashly taste the deadly food.”

we understand that the story of the first sacrifice, recorded so briefly in the Bible, reveals to us something deeply fundamental in our own life, in man himself. We understand that sin is first of all a refusal to live for God. Here we realise that our love has strayed from the Supreme Being, and this realisation lets us utter words so far removed from the experience of modern life, which ring with the greatest truth: “The mind is grievously wounded, the flesh is loosed and wasted, the spirit is sick, the word hath grown feeble, life and death are written upon men…”

To truly hear the Great Canon, one needs of course a knowledge of the Bible and the ability to take in the meaning of its figures. In our day most people find them dull and do not connect them with life; we must learn anew to receive the world as the Bible reveals it, learn to live in this biblical world, and there is no better means for this than the Church’s worship, which not only hands down to us the teaching of the Bible but reveals the biblical way of life. That is why the path of the Fast begins with a return to the starting point — to the creation of the world, the fall, redemption — a return to that world where everything speaks to us of God, everything reflects the glory of God, where all that happens, every event, is directly bound up with God, where man finds the true measure of his life and sets out on the path of repentance.

Prepared by Tinatin Gogichaishvili, newspaper “Patriarchate News”, No. 8, 2006.