The Second Day Of The Great Canon At The Patriarchal Cathedral
9/3/2011
Hundreds of faithful attended the service of the Canon of Saint Andrew the Cretan celebrated in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Bucharest. The Canon service was celebrated yesterday, 8 March, the second day of the Lent by His Grace Ciprian Câmpineanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch.
In this part of the service of the Great Canon, Saint Andrew describes the turmoil of the sinful man who becomes aware of the meaning of his life in the world, said His Grace in the sermon delivered.
“This confused soul weeps for his many sins made, thinking that the end is near, just like the final judgement when he is present in front of the Right Judge. But the canon also gives hope because it remembers Saint Andrew the Cretan here and many other sinful men and women who repented and whom God has blessed and forgiven.
His Grace Ciprian Câmpineanul also urged the faithful to make a thorough analysis of their own lives, to assume their sins in this period of the Lent.
“Let us remember if we had a good beginning of the Lent, forgiving one another and try to get aware of the sins committed. Let us strengthen our faith and hope that God-the-Father, the Loving One, waits for us, His arms open, in the parent’s house forgiving us, as He forgives the prodigal son. But to be forgiven, we must repent sincerely. And if we repent with sincerely tears, the Great Canon of Saint Andrew the Cretan is very useful because we can identify ourselves with the tormented soul of the Canon and so we can hope that God will bless us and help us cover this hard way, full of all kinds of obstacles, but which leads to Resurrection”, said His Grace, as Trinitas Radio station informs us.
The Canon of Saint Andrew the Cretan (660 – 740) or the Great Canon, as it is also known, is made up of 250 lines, unlike 30 lines of the ordinary canons. Saint Andrew wrote this Canon either when he was in Constantinople, before his ordination as Archbishop of Gortynei, Crete (692), or soon afterwards (712). This service specific of the Lent emphasises the need of repentance, without which there cannot be restoration and salvation.
