Text: The Great Canon of Repentance
“My Soul, O my Soul, rise up! Why are you sleeping? The end draws near, and soon you shall be troubled. Watch then, that Christ your God may spare you. For He is everywhere present and fills all things.“
Saint Andrew wrote many Canons of which we Chant during Matins. One of his most beautiful Prayers is The Great Canon which contains Hymns of great Spiritual Grace speaking of events from the Old and New Testaments, and indicates the way we may become Sanctified. The Great Canon is Chanted in the Church Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings of the First Week of Holy and Great Lent, and also on Thursday of the Fifth Week, and any time during the year in our personal prayers.
Portions of the Great Canon: Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me. You know, my Soul, the ladder that was shown to Jacob, reaching up from Earth to Heaven. Why have you not provided a firm foundation for it through your Godly actions? Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me. Awake, my Soul, consider the actions which you have done; set them before your eyes, and let the drops of your tears fall. With boldness tell Christ of your deeds and thoughts, and so be justified. Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me. When I examine my actions, O Saviour, I see that I have gone beyond all men in sin; for I knew and understood what I did; I was not sinning in ignorance. Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me. The waves of my sins, O Saviour, have returned and suddenly engulfed me, as the waters of the Red Sea engulfed the Egyptians of old and their charioteers. Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me. I know You as a calm haven, O Lord, Lord Christ: come quickly, before it is too late, and deliver me from the lowest depths of sin and despair. Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me. We sinned, O Lord, and we broke Your Law, we behaved unrighteously before You, and neither have we kept Your Word, nor acted according to the way You Commanded for us. Yet, O God of the Fathers, we Pray, do not utterly deliver us up. Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me. All the names of the Old Testament have I set before you, my Soul, as an example. Imitate the Holy acts of the Righteous and flee from the sins of the wicked. Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me. I will now show thee, O my Soul, examples from the New Testament, to lead thee to repentance. Follow the example of the Righteous and avoid following the ways of the sinners and strive to regain the Grace of Christ through Prayer and fasting, purity and reverence. Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me.
AUDIO Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me. May the Blood from Your side be to me a cleansing fount, and may the Water that flows with it be a drink of forgiveness. May I be purified by both, O Word, anointed and refreshed, having as ointment and drink Your words of life.
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Saint Andrew of Crete and Saint Mary of Egypt
