The great penitential canon of Andrew of Crete. When is the canon of the Monk Andrew of Crete?

The great penitential canon of Andrew of Crete is read in the first four days of Lent, one part at a time. The whole creation is read in the seventh week. The canon teaches people repentance. Accept your sins and learn to fight them. Also this scriptures instructs to take an example from pure and unselfish people.

About Andriy of Crete

The Monk Andrey was born somewhere in the 660s of our era, in the city of Damascus. Legends say that up to seven years the child could not talk. Andrei's parents were believers and often visited the church. Once, during the communion in Cretan, God's blessing came down and he began to speak. After this miracle, parents gave Andrew to study the basics of religion.

When the boy turned 14 years old, he was transferred to the service in Jerusalem, in the Monastery of the Holy Sepulcher. Andrew was a very versatile young man, so he was immediately identified in notaries.

Then Andrew moved to Constantinople, where he served in the house of orphans in the rank of deacon for 20 years. In the same city, he began to write his own songs, which are still widely used in the Orthodox Church.

After this future, the saint was sent to the island of Crete in the rank of bishop. There he faithfully served the church, instructing the true heretics and giving support to believers. Andrew in Crete built several orphanages, temples. For his faithful service received the rank of archbishop. In 1740 the monk died on the way from Constantinople to the island of Crete.

About canons

Andrei Kritsky was the first to write canons instead of kontakion. The saint has chants to all the great holidays: Christmas, Easter, Palm Sunday and others. Many of them are used in modern liturgical mines as well. The canons are closely related to "biblical songs." The structure of this chant is as follows. First comes the irmos, which is the connecting chain between the biblical song and the content of the canon. Next are troparia. They are sung alternately with songs. The most outstanding creation, undoubtedly, is the great canon of the Monk Andrew of Crete. He teaches us repentance. It is best to ask forgiveness from the Lord in Lent, when the canon of Andrew of Crete is read.

Contents of the canon

In his canon, Andrew briefly touches the entire Bible. From 1 st to 8 th song is the Old Testament, after - New. Each story of the biblical characters of the canon Andrew assesses in terms of human morality. If this is a bad deed, then he talks about his sinfulness, and if good is said, it should be pursued. The author hints at us that we can save our soul when we give up our vices and strive for virtue.

Song 1

In the first song, the canon of Andrew of Crete tells of original sin. Eve succumbed to Satan's temptation and gave the apple to Adam. He, in turn, was tempted by power and tried it. In this song, Andrew says that we are all sinful and if the Lord punished Adam and Eve for violating one commandment, how will he punish us, which violate them almost all. We can only repent and ask for forgiveness from God.

Song 2

In the second song, the great canon of Andrew of Crete tells how we all succumbed to carnal consolation. First, they put on their clothes, ashamed of their naked body, which was created in the likeness of the Lord. The second - put in the head of pleasure and beauty bodily, and not spiritual. Even in this song of the great canon of Andrew of Crete it is said that we are subject to all earthly passions and, unfortunately, we do not want to fight them. For all these sins, we must sincerely ask God to forgive us. The main thing is to understand your own bad deeds and try to get rid of them.

Song 3

In it, the great penitential canon of Andrew of Crete tells how the Lord could not stand the disgrace that was going on in Sodom, and burned the city. Only one righteous Lot managed to escape. Andrew calls on everyone to renounce Sodom pleasures and run away. The sins of this city are haunting us every day, tempting to repeat them, I think, many succumb. But, the main thing is to stop and think about what awaits us in the future. What will be our afterlife after Sodom entertainment.

Song 4

It states that laziness is a big sin. If a person, like a vegetable, moves forward without realizing himself and the world around him, then the end will be appropriate. The patriarch of the song worked hard day and night to have two wives. One of them meant diligence, and the other was intelligence. Thanks to this combination, we can improve contemplation and our activities.

Song 5

The penitential canon of St. Andrew of Crete tells of St. Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers and beloved, and sold him into slavery. He calmly transferred everything, did not be angry with his fate. Andrei says that each of us can betray his neighbor. But the trouble is also that we betray ourselves and our soul every day. Not suffering any disasters, we violate the commandments of the Lord and do not even think about it.

Song 6

Andrew in this song calls to become the mankind on the true path. Do not turn away from the Lord, like some historical characters. And to believe that as God by the hand of Moses relieved the sick from leprosy, so our soul can forgive for its sins.

Song 7

In the seventh song, the canon of the Monk Andrew of Crete tells that no matter what grave sins a person has committed, if he sincerely repents, he will be forgiven. In the opposite case, the Lord's punishment will be great. It is necessary to pray to God in his three guises and the Mother of God with repentance and asking for forgiveness.

Song 8

Andrew tells us that our Lord gives each according his merit. If a person lived righteously, he would ascend to heaven, like Ilya in his chariot. Or in life will receive the support of God, like Elisha for the separation of the Jordan River. If you live in sin like Giezia, the soul will burn in the fiery hyena.

Song 9

In this song, the great canon of Andrew of Crete tells us that people forgot the Ten Commandments of God, which Moses had knocked out on the tablets. They are not attached to the writing of the gospel. Once Jesus came to our world to save us. He blessed the babies and the elderly, because some did not have time to repent of their sins, and others could not. If a person is of sound mind, he must ask the Lord himself for forgiveness.

Songs that are read on Tuesday Lent.

Song 1

It tells how Cain killed his brother, envying him. Andrew asks to live his life righteously, not thinking to whom and what the Lord gave. If a person lives according to the commandments of God, then soon grace will come to him too. One must strive to be like Abel, who with a pure soul brought his gifts to the Lord. Song 2

Calls on people to repent for rejecting spiritual wealth and giving meaning only to material things. In pursuit of clothing and other goods, they completely forgot to pray to the Lord. We forget that a mentally rich person will be much happier.

Song 3

This song of the canon of Andrew of Crete calls to live as Noah, to whom the Lord alone gave a chance to escape. Or like Lot, the only survivor of Sodom. Because if we sin, then the fate of people will suffer us in the flood.

Song 4

There is power in knowledge. We must strive to see God in ourselves, and a ladder will be built in the sky, like the patriarchs. We in everyday life imitate Esau, all who hate. It is necessary to live in love and harmony.

Song 5

As the whole Jewish people lived in slavery Egyptian, so our soul lives all the time in sin. We need to get courage and end the slavery. Even if in the first time it will be necessary to suffer, then in the end result we will acquire true freedom of the spirit. Then it will become much easier and more pleasant to live.

Song 6

Continues to talk about the advent of Moses, who sought to lead the people out of Egyptian slavery. People do not have much faith to endure a bit of wandering in the name of a good purpose. So we need everything at the same time. We must believe in the Lord and ask for forgiveness, and then we can free our soul from the bondage of sins.

Song 7

The song of the great canon of the Monk Andrew of Crete tells how we repeat the sins and addictions of biblical characters, but do not have the strength and desire to follow the Great Martyrs. Our body encroaches on sinful deeds, such as adultery, without thinking about the consequences for the soul.

Song 8

The eighth song tells about people who could find the strength to repent and accept the Lord in their souls. So Andrew calls us to renounce the past life sinful and go to meet God. At the end of the eighth song summed up the Old Testament - you do not have to repeat the sins of the characters of the biblical and strive to live like the righteous of this Holy Scripture.

Song 9

In the ninth song, the canon of St. Andrew of Crete gives a comparison from the New Testament. As Jesus resisted the temptation of Satan in the wilderness, so we must fight against all kinds of temptations. Christ began to work miracles on earth, showing that everything in this world is possible. The main thing is to believe and live according to the covenants of the Lord, and then our soul can be saved on the day of judgment.

Wednesday

There are also 9 songs on Wednesday. Since the first days of the creation of the world there have been people who praised the Lord our God for their deeds. Andrew calls people to repent of their sins and become like those saints in everyday life. Praise the name of the Lord by doing deeds worthy of it. Remember also in the songs and great sinners who turned away from God, gave priority to material goods or succumbed to the temptation to try the forbidden fruit. The Lord punished them for their deeds. So our soul after death awaits a day of judgment on which it will not be possible to lie, it will not be possible to conceal its atrocities by some imaginary excuses. Therefore, Andrew calls us to repent during life, ask the Lord for the forgiveness of sins and strive to change our actions for the better. Learn to resist temptation. In this there is nothing complicated. Simply remaining a man, you will see that most of the covenants of the Lord indicate to live without envy and gluttony, without betrayal and the desire to get someone else's.

Thursday

On this day of Great Lent the last part of the canon is read. As in the previous songs, virtues are glorified here and the sins of humanity that have been committed for centuries are condemned. Also in this part they call on the Lord, Jesus, the Virgin Mary with a request to forgive sin and give the opportunity to repent.

Also the canon of St. Andrew of Crete teaches us to admit our mistakes, not to seek guilt for a bad life in others. Accept your sinfulness as a proven fact. But this does not mean that it's worth accepting. On the contrary, admission of guilt is the first step towards forgiveness. If we stop now, then we have chances of eternal life after death.

Just when the canon of Andrew of Crete, in the Great Lent, is read, we have the opportunity to realize our sins and start a new life. A life that will please God. Then mankind will be able to feel grace, pacification and with a calm soul to wait for the day of judgment.