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. (Twice)
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Where shall I begin to lament the deeds of my life? What beginning shall I make, O Christ, of this lamentation? But as Thou art compassionate, grant me tears of compunction.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Come, O lowly soul, with thy flesh; confess to the Creator, and depart from thy former senselessness, and offer to the Lord tears of repentance.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Having rivalled the first-created Adam in transgression, I know myself stripped naked of God and of the everlasting kingdom and holy delight, because of my falls.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Woe is me, O wretched soul! How art thou become like the first Eve? For thou didst look and wast grievously wounded, and didst touch the tree and taste recklessly of the deadly food.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
In place of the Eve of sense, the Eve of the mind hath become mine: the passionate stirring of my flesh, showing me what is sweet; and tasting of it, I have fallen away from Thy knowledge.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Justly was Adam cast out of Eden, for he kept not one commandment of Thine, O Saviour; but what shall I do, who ever neglect Thy words?
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: Attend, O heaven, and I will speak, and I will praise Christ, who came from the Virgin for our sake.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Attend, O heaven, and I will speak; hear, O earth, one who singeth of God in repentance.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Look upon me with Thy merciful eye, as Thou art good, and accept my confession.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I have sinned more than all men, I alone have angered Thee; but as God, save Thy creature.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I have portrayed the ugliness of the passions by the appearance of disobedience, and destroyed the beauty of my mind.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The waves of the passions have overwhelmed me, O merciful Lord; but as Thou didst to Peter, stretch out Thy hand to me.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I have defiled the temple of my body, and darkened the image and likeness with which I was honoured.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I have darkened the brightness of my soul with the pleasures of the passions, and turned my mind into dust.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I have torn my first garment, which God wove for me from the beginning, and I lie naked.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I am clothed in the coarse coat which the serpent wove for me in Eden by his counsel, and I am ashamed before Thee.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The tears of the harlot I too offer: save me as her, O Saviour, by Thy mercy.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I have lost my first-created goodness and my beauty, and I lie naked and ashamed.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Upon my back the leaders of the passions have scourged me bitterly, and have prolonged their iniquity upon me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
One Trinity in three Persons, I praise the God of all: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
O immaculate Lady and Virgin, all-hymned, entreat fervently that we may be saved.
Irmos: Upon the unshakeable rock of Thy commandments, O Christ, establish my heart.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Of old, O soul, the Lord rained down fire from the Lord and burned up the cities of Sodom.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Flee to the mountain, O soul, like Lot of old, and hasten to Zoar, escaping the overthrow.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Flee, O soul, flee from the burning of Sodom; flee from the wrath of God that is stirred up.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I alone have sinned against Thee, I have sinned more than all men, O Christ Saviour: forsake me not.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
O Christ, good Shepherd, seek me, Thy sheep, and disregard not me who have gone astray.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Thou art my Creator, Thou art sweet Jesus, and through Thee I shall be justified, O Deliverer.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I confess to Thee, O Saviour: I have sinned, I have sinned against Thee; but be gracious and save me, O Good One.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
O one God in three Persons, save me, a sinner, and deliver me from corruption.
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Rejoice, O Theotokos; rejoice, throne of the Lord and Mother of God.
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.
Disregard not Thy works, despise not Thy creature, O righteous Judge; though I alone have sinned as a man, more than all men, O Lover of mankind, yet Thou hast, as Lord of all, the power to forgive.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The end is near, O soul, it is near; yet thou carest not, nor makest ready; the time is short: rise up; the Judge is near, at the very doors. Like a dream, like a flower, thy days pass away: why are we troubled in vain?
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Awake, O my soul; remember the deeds that thou hast done, and bring their repentance before God; shed the drops of thy tears; tell boldly thy deeds and thy thoughts to Christ, and be justified.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
There is no sin in the world, no fall, no evil, O Saviour, that I have not committed, in mind and in word, in thought, in will, in purpose and in deed, as none other ever hath.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Hence I am convicted, hence I, wretched one, am condemned by my own conscience, than which nothing is sharper: O my Saviour and Judge, deliver and save Thy servant.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The ladder which the great one among the patriarchs saw, O my soul, was a figure of ascent by works and of the steps of knowledge: if thou wouldst live by works, contemplation and knowledge, be renewed.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The great patriarch endured the heat of the day in toil, and bore the frost of the night, adding hardship day by day, tending the flock, watching and serving, that he might win two wives.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Understand the two wives to be action and knowledge in contemplation: Leah, the mother of many children, as action; Rachel, of many labours, as knowledge; for without toil neither action nor contemplation nor knowledge, O soul, will prosper.
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.
I have passed my life in darkness, for the night of my sins hath become to me gloom and deep darkness; but show me, O Deliverer, a son of the light.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Like Reuben, I, the wretched one, have become unrighteous and lawless, and have plotted against God Most High, and defiled my bed as he did his father’s.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I confess to Thee, O Christ, Lamb of God: I have sinned, I have sinned against Thee; and as Joseph’s brothers sold him, so have I sold the fruit of purity and chastity.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The righteous soul was bound and sold by his own brothers into slavery, a figure of Christ the Deliverer; but thou, O my soul, hast sold thyself to sin.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Imitate, O wretched soul, the righteous and divine mind of Joseph, and be not defiled by following senseless impulses for ever.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Joseph once dwelt in a pit, a figure of Thy saving passions, O Master; but what like this shall I, the wretched one, ever offer to Thee?
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.
The tears of my eyes, O my Saviour, and the sighs from my depths I offer eagerly, and I cry thus with my heart: O God, I have sinned against Thee; be merciful to me.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Thou hast turned away, O soul, from thy Lord, like Dathan and Abiram; but cry out: Deliver me from the nethermost hell, lest the deep chasm of the earth cover thee.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Like a heifer gone wild, O soul, thou art become like Ephraim of old; but like a gazelle save thy life from the snare, winged by action, contemplation and mind.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Let the hand of Moses assure thee, O soul, how God can cleanse and adorn again a leprous life; and despair not, though thou be leprous.
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.
I have sinned and done iniquity and despised Thy commandments; in my sins I was born, and I have added wounds to my wounds; but do Thou have mercy on me, as the Merciful One, O God of our fathers.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The secrets of my mind I confess to Thee, my Judge; see my lowliness, see my affliction, and attend to my judgement, and be gracious to me as the Lover of mankind, O God of our fathers.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
When Saul of old lost his father’s asses, O soul, he found a kingdom beside the matter while seeking; but take heed, lest thou choose thy senseless impulses above the kingdom of Christ.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Though David, the forefather of God, once sinned, O my soul, and was pierced by the arrow of adultery and again by the spear of murder, yet thou doest graver deeds by the training of thy mind.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
David once joined iniquity to iniquity, and murder to adultery, yet showed twofold repentance at once; but thou, O soul, who hast sinned more grievously, imitate him in turning back.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
David once set forth, as though inscribed upon a pillar, in his psalm, the sin he had done, and confessed it, saying: Have mercy on me, for against Thee only, the God of all, have I sinned: do Thou cleanse me, O Lord.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Simple and undivided, worshipped as consubstantial, praised by the saints, Light and Lights, the thrice-holy Trinity, 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.
Have mercy on me, a sinner, O Deliverer, and make my heart eager to turn; save me who repent, and look upon me who cry: I have sinned; have mercy on me and find me who am lost.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Elijah the charioteer went up as though to heaven in the chariot of the virtues, and the earthly man was raised above the air: remember, O my soul, his ascent.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Elisha of old, receiving the mantle of Elijah, received a double grace from the Lord; but thou, O my soul, hast not become a partaker of that grace because of thy disorderly walk.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The stream of the Jordan was once parted by Elisha with the mantle of Elijah and stood still; but thou, O my soul, couldst not partake of that grace because of thy disorderly walk.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The Shunammite once received the prophet as a witness, O soul; but thou hast received neither stranger nor traveller; wherefore thou shalt be cast out of the bridal chamber, weeping.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Thou hast become like wretched Gehazi, O soul, in his foul and abominable will; cast away his love of money, even now in old age; flee from it through fear of the fire, and depart from evil.
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 telling; a Mother without a husband conceiveth incorruptibly; for the birth of God reneweth the order of nature; wherefore all generations magnify thee without ceasing, O Bride and Mother of God.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The mind is grievously wounded, the body is feeble and worn out, the spirit is sick, the word hath lost its strength, life is withering, and death is at the doors; what then wilt thou do, O wretched soul, when the great Judge cometh to judge thee?
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I have told thee of Moses’ account of the creation of the world, O soul, and through it all the Scripture of the law, the righteous with the false; but thou, O slothful one, hast imitated the latter, not the former, becoming foolish before God.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The law is grown weak, the Gospel is unprofitable, and all the Scriptures are in vain; the prophets are idle and the word of teaching unprofitable; for thy wounds, O soul, have multiplied, there being none able to heal them.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
I bring thee again the examples of the New Scripture, to lead thee to compunction; imitate the righteous, O soul, and turn away from the sinners, and make Christ merciful by fasting and prayer, by watchfulness and purity.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Christ became man, O soul, and called thieves and harlots to repentance; repent now; the doors of the kingdom are open, and all the publicans and sinners and the penitent adulterers enter into it.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Christ became man, O soul, and conversed with us in the flesh, and fulfilled all that belongeth to nature, save only sin, and showed thee the image and pattern of His condescension, that He might renew thee in mercy.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Christ saved the Magi, called the shepherds, received the holy host of infants as martyrs, and glorified the old man with the righteous widow; these, O soul, thou hast imitated neither in deed nor in life; and woe to thee when thou art judged.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
The Saviour fasted forty days and afterwards was hungry, to show men the nature He possessed; and thou too, O soul, lose not heart if the tempter come upon thee, for thou hast fasting and prayer as weapons against him.
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 hath its strength and through thee overcometh its enemies; it is set above trials, turneth back its foes, and ruleth those in its keeping.
O thrice-blessed father Andrew, shepherd of Crete, pray for us who fervently sing to thee, that we may be delivered from wrath, affliction and corruption, and from countless sins, we who call upon thee with faith.
This hymn sets before us the weight of sin and at the same time fills the soul with repentance and hope. In the canon of St Andrew of Crete the images and events of the Bible are presented as the tragedy of a man’s own sin and his falling away from God.
The canon begins with a lament born of the knowledge of the depth of sin:
“Where shall I begin to lament the deeds of my life? What beginning shall I make, O Christ, of this lamentation?” (Monday, Ode 1)
Truly it is hard to take up the struggle of repentance; the chief difficulty here is the multitude and weight of sins. The first task is confession, when the soul stands before God “with the flesh” and breaks the silence — “depart from thy former senselessness” (Monday, Ode 1). “Senselessness” here also means that a sinner has no words before God to justify himself; but once he has gained repentance, he in some measure gives answer to the Creator and confesses his sins before Him.
The story of the fall is the spiritual story of us, of men:
“Having rivalled the first-created Adam in transgression, I know myself stripped naked of God and of the everlasting kingdom and holy delight, because of my falls” (Monday, Ode 1); that is, every man is like Adam: at some point in his life he makes friends with sin and falls. Sooner or later he “looks upon” the devil, that is, submits to his will, and, like the first-created woman of old, falls by tasting “the deadly food”. And Eve herself, who looked upon the fruit of the tree of knowledge, is an image of the passionate flesh of a man separated from the knowledge of God (Monday, Ode 1).
In general, the first and second odes of Monday’s canon depict the fall of Adam and Eve and the echo of these events in the life of every man.
The second ode is filled above all with repentance and an unquenchable thirst for forgiveness; therefore it recalls the greatest falls known from sacred history, which were blotted out by repentance and the boundless mercy of God. That is why Lot is often recalled, as a symbol of flight from sin and of wondrous rescue.
The fourth ode is a confession. Here the manifold nature of sins is revealed; they are committed “in mind and in word, in thought, in will and in purpose” (Monday, Ode 4).
Here the figures of the Old Testament gradually enter, and the spiritual meaning of each is revealed. Here too the patriarch Jacob is remembered, whose ladder signifies spiritual and intellectual height. Only a purified and renewed soul can climb this ladder.
The two wives of the patriarch Jacob, Leah and Rachel, teach us two virtues:
Leah, as the mother of many children, is the image of labour.
Rachel, as one of many sorrows, is the image of knowledge and understanding (Monday, Ode 4).
The biblical story continues, and now the sons of Jacob are remembered: Reuben shows one of the ruinous passions of the sinful soul, the desire to appropriate what belongs to another. Reuben brought mandrakes to his mother Leah, so that she might take what belonged to Rachel.
“I too have sold the fruit of purity and chastity!” laments the sinner bitterly, comparing himself to the brothers who sold Joseph (Monday, Ode 5). Joseph’s suffering in the pit is a foreshadowing of the Saviour’s redeeming and saving passion; and the soul is like Joseph’s brothers who sold him.
Prepared by Tinatin Gogichaishvili, newspaper “Patriarchate News”, No. 8, 2006.
