“You sounded forth the sweetness of the divine hymns, and appeared as the brightest light for the world, shining with the light of the Trinity, Venerable Andrew. So all of us cry to you: do not cease to pray for us all.”
(Troparion, Tone 3)
Great Lent brings a distinctive cycle of worship, with prayers and hymns that leave a lasting mark, stir the soul’s longing for God, and awaken within us memories of our Heavenly Home. Among these services, the Great Canon of Repentance by Saint Andrew of Crete stands apart. Its verses weave together scenes from Scripture and heartfelt sighs rising from the core of the writer’s spirit as he speaks to his own soul.
The Great Canon of Repentance — a work of Venerable Andrew of Crete
Venerable Andrew, the Archbishop of Crete and a foremost church hymnographer, wrote this great work in his later years. Much like King David, who, in deep sorrow after his transgression, wrote the repentant Fiftieth Psalm, Saint Andrew created this canon for his own heart. It is truly his own act of contrition. Within its 250 verses, moments from Holy History come alive, from Adam's first sin to the earthly journey of Christ. Grieving his failings, the holy archbishop sees all of Sacred History as the tale of his own soul.
Damascus, 1890–1900
Saint Andrew was born in Damascus around the year 660. His mother and father, George and Gregoria, were devout Christians, and they set their children firmly on the Orthodox path. Tradition has it that the boy, who would one day become a celebrated writer of church hymns, could not utter a word until he turned seven. He found his voice, so it is told, after he partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
This marvel left a lasting mark on his parents and the boy too. Although still quite young, he threw himself into the study of the Holy Scriptures and theology with eager resolve.
At fifteen, Andrew chose to give his life to God's work. Hearing that their son wished to become a monk, his parents brought the youth to the Monastery of Venerable Sabbas the Sanctified in Jerusalem.
The Lavra of Venerable Sabbas the Sanctified by the Kedron Stream, the place of monastic labours of Venerable Andrew, Archbishop of Crete
The young monk stood out for his pure way of life, his gentle heart, and his strict temperance. Soon, known for his gifts and uprightness, he was added to the clergy of Jerusalem and appointed secretary to the patriarchate — a notary. In 680, Theodore I (668–692), who was standing in for the Patriarch of Jerusalem, chose Venerable Andrew to represent the Holy City at the Fourth Ecumenical Council. There, he spoke out against false doctrines, drawing on his thorough grasp of Orthodox doctrine. Once the council finished, Andrew stayed on in Constantinople. He became a deacon in the great Church of Hagia Sophia, and there he ministered for two decades.
During the reign of Emperor Justinian II, Saint Andrew was made bishop of Gortyna in Crete. In this new position, he shone brightly as a true light of the whole Church — a great bishop, teacher, and writer of hymns.
Mediterranean, Island of Crete
One day, Saracens sailed to the island of Crete and launched an attack. They laid siege to a city named Drumeos, where the Christians had taken refuge with their shepherd, Saint Andrew. The archpastor's prayers held great power; the Saracens met defeat and fled in shame, pushed back by the saint’s heartfelt pleas to God, offered with tears and aimed like arrows to pierce their foes. At another time, when the land lay parched and crops withered, the saint's intercessions brought life-giving rain that soaked the thirsty soil and spared the islanders from famine.
By then a bishop, in 712 Andrew attended a council called by Emperor Philippicus (711–713), which wrongly overturned the rulings of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. When Philippicus fell from power, Andrew felt deep remorse for not having stood firm for the truth. He shared his regret in a letter to Agathon, a deacon at Hagia Sophia. Tradition holds that these moments of remorse from the experienced archpastor led to his most moving spiritual creation – the Great Canon of Repentance. Abbot Philip (Simonov) notes: “For the second millennium now, the flock of the Cretan archpastor — at least for five days a year, the days when we read his Great Canon — has been the entire Orthodox Church.”
This work earns its name, the Great Canon, from the sheer wealth of reflections and memories it holds, and from the striking number of its troparia — some 250, far more than the usual 30 or so found in other canons. To be read during the opening week of Great Lent, it is split into four sections, one for each day. On Wednesday and Thursday, further troparia join the main body, honouring the Venerable Mary of Egypt, a woman who climbed from the depths of a spiritual fall to remarkable godliness. The final troparia salute the author himself, Saint Andrew of Crete.
In 726, Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (717–741) began to curb the veneration of icons, launching the struggle we know as Iconoclasm. This time, Andrew, then Archbishop of Crete, refused to stay silent. He spoke out against the imperial policy, lost his see, and spent a period in Constantinople. Then, in 740, most likely while in exile, Andrew of Crete departed to the Lord.
His relics first rested in the Church of Saint Anastasia, before moving to Constantinople, where monks kept them in a monastery bearing his own name. After Turkish dominion ended, only the saint's right hand was left of these precious effects, now kept in the church at Arkalochori, back on the island of Crete.
Within Greek manuscripts, printed synaxaria, and collections of homilies, we find around sixty sermons for church festivals, all thought to be from the hand of the Venerable Andrew of Crete. Roughly half of these have since appeared in print.
His legacy, however, shines brightest in hymn-writing. He pioneered the canon form within Orthodox hymnography. Beyond his most famous composition, he also created canons for the great feast days of the Byzantine Church. Most of these are still used in today’s services: canons for the Nativity of Christ, Theophany, the Meeting of the Lord, Annunciation, Palm Sunday, Pascha, the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Conception of the Righteous Anna, the Nativity of St John the Forerunner, the Beheading of St John the Forerunner, the remembrance days of the Holy Maccabees, the veneration of the chains of the Apostle Peter, Saints Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, among others. Saint Andrew of Crete also wrote canons, three- and four-ode hymns, and self-composed stichera for many days of both the Lenten and Festal Triodion cycles — for example, the three- and four-ode hymns of Holy Week and a canon for Easter, which is no longer printed in service books.
Venerable Father Andrew, pray to God for us, for we turn to you with all our hearts, our ready helper and one who speaks to God for our souls!
“Andrew, honoured one and thrice-blessed father, shepherd of Crete, cease not to pray for those who sing your praise: that we may be delivered from wrath, sorrow, decay, and countless transgressions, all of us who faithfully honour your memory.”
(Troparion of the Great Canon)
Material prepared by the team of obitel-minsk.ru
Photographs from the internet
Sources:
1. Loparev Kh. A Description of Certain Greek Lives of Saints, III: The Life of St Andrew of Crete // VV. 1897.
2. Rozhdestvensky M. St Andrew of Crete as a Church Hymnographer // Strannik. 1902.
3. The School of Repentance: Notes in the Margins of the Great Canon / Abbot Philip (Simonov). — Moscow: Pilgrim, 2007.
