st andrews canon

7/29/2019 St Andrews Canon

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Describe the relevance of St Andrews Canon for the human person today.

The great Canon provides the faithful with the tools not only to approach God but

more importantly, to unite with Him. As commented by Archbishop Stylianos, it is

about the unity of the cosmos and the human race - as one creation that is the

Great Canons main theological presupposition.1For this reason St Andrews Canon

has anthropological and cosmological themes. The Great Canon invites the faithful

to utilize all aspects of their existence including all their senses. These aspects will

be discussed further down.

A brief summary on the content and to whom it is addressed will perhaps shed some

light about the context but also the purpose of the poem. This complex poem

(actually a chanted hymn) was written in the early 700's, and it was given the

adjective "Great" for two reasons: it's extra-long (about 250 verses), and it's

majestic. The Great Canon was undisputedly written by St. Andrew of Crete, a

bishop who was initially a monk in Jerusalem. The whole Canon is a kind of "Walk

through the Bible." St. Andrew begins with Adam and Eve and goes all the way

through, exhortinghimself by applying the stories and characters of the Bible.

Reading the Canon assist in understanding from an anthropological perspective, the

numerous human infirmities and the source of redemption, needless to say it hasalways been the same for Christians through out the ages. The Canon proves the

scriptures were written as a guide and as an example to follow; St Andrew makes

best use of that. It may seem that St. Andrew wrote it for himself, for his own

private use. It is evident throughout the canticles he is challenging himself

personally, comparing his life and behaviour to that of the Bible's sinners and

saints in an intimate manner.

He wrote the Canon to challenge the faithful spiritually. There is a sense of awe and

mystery here a sense ofseriousness and urgency for restoration from the old

Adam to the new based on the incarnation. To read the Canon in one sitting, not

only is it emotionally draining since it provokes much reflection of ones state. Also,

the Canon arouses an awakening, which leads to a nostalgic return-journey to God.

1 (Father) Doru Costache, Reading the Scriputeres with Byzantine Eyes : The Hermeneutical

Significance of St Andrew of Cretes Great Canon, Phronema 23 (2008).

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The Great Canon is demanding, because it is dealing with the issues humans

confront during there earthly existence that is; life, death, evil, forgiveness, God's

compassion, our joy and gratitude.

Although the perhaps the most central theme in the Canon is sin. Not in the

common sense of committing an error and expecting punishment from the Judge.

Instead, St. Andrew speaks of sin as something that arises from deep inside, from a

darkened and confused mind. It is like a self-inflicted wound. He speaks of God as

all-compassionate, rushing toward us with healing love, like the Good Samaritan or

the father of the Prodigal Son. This brokenness and corruption from sin that forms

the basis of the poem eventually always points to Gods mercy and patients for our

return.

Sin is not just the breaking of external laws; it's a poison that infiltrates our whole

being and mind. It is a state of mind where the human is in constant torment and

seeks peace but cannot find it due to his old garment. Sin is a cause of apostasy, and

at the same time this sin distances man from finding peace and joy. After reciting

psalm 50 of repentance, immediately afterwards the marathon struggle of the Great

Canon begins, and signals the time the whole of the human person is to participate

and is invited to purification

Come, wretched soul, with thy flesh to the Creator of all. Make confession

to Him, and abstain henceforth from thy past brutishness; and offer to God

tears of repentance (Canticle 1)

The ability to weep in repentance was regarded as a gift from God, something that a

heart of stone or selfishness could not achieve. Thus, this is regarded as the first

phase of transformation. This gift of tears or weeping of tears is a prerequisite

disposition in reaching God.

Within the Church says Panagiotis Nellas we have a different cosmology that

incorporates a different conception of time and space. This is expressed by

Byzantine architecture and iconography and is also presupposed by Byzantine

hymnography. Everything in the Church seems a metaphor but in actuality is a

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reality. These anthropological and cosmological settings are to be taken seriously in

order to grasp the churchs life as an active, decisive, salvific reorganization and

refashioning of the limited dimensions and functions of the created world and the

created being of man.2

The refrain Have mercy upon me O Lord, have mercy upon me accompanies each

verse of the Great Canon. The great canon has a -theanthropic- mode of function, it

helps man to enter into that other time and other space, and this is what some art

attempts to recapture and struggles to express.3

The beauty of the canon is in one part, as a theological treatise which leads

humanity to repentance, that is, to the transformation to refashion oneself and ones

environment. In another part, it is a theological treatise and not a scholarly

dissertation, an ecclesiastical liturgical act, that transfigured the man personally and

in turn the whole world around him is saved.4

In this new ecclesiastical space-time, as Nellas calls it, there is a beautiful

compilation of persons and events specific to sacred history.

According to the Synaxary, the author of the Great Canon,

Having collected and assembled the whole history of the Old and New

Testaments composed the present poem, beginning with Adam and

continuing up to the Ascension of Christ and the preaching of the

Apostles.5

The transposition of time and events prick the heart for urgent change of heart, the

great canon calls this the passing over and is the pivotal point of reading the

Scriptures and praying. As in canticle 7 the recollection of Solomon is beautifully

illustrated, who once did evil in the sight of heaven and turned away from God,

leads the unrepentant sinner to reflect upon his own mistakes and make up for his

2 Panagiotis Nellas,Deification in Christ, trans.Norman Russel (Crestwood, N.Y:SVS Press, 1987),

1693 Ibid. 169.4 ibid5 cited in Panagiotis Nellas,Deification in Christ, trans.Norman Russel (Crestwood, N.Y:SVS Press,

1987), 170.

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conformity to corruption

One cannot ignore the mercy of God; through the incarnation of Christ, and

the hope that immediately bestows a sinner (Canticle 9).6

Christ became man, calling to repentance thieves and harlots. Repent my soul: the

door of the Kingdom is already open, and Pharisees and publicans and adulterers

pass through it before thee, changing their life.(Canticle 9) is an echo of Jesus own

words: Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the Kingdom

of God before you. (Matthew 21:31). To change ones life as St Andrew mentions,

is not an easy task, or passive, but it is dynamic, as Jesus states: From the days of

John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men

of violence take it by force. (Matthew 11:12) This means that the Kingdom of

Heaven belongs to the diligent and earnest, not to the lazy. Rather, the violent take it

my force.7

The recollections of sacred history become current and induce reflection on ones

own imperfections. It transfigures the new man into the restored Adam and the new

creation in Christ. This is clearly realized in the Eucharist, where the created,

communicating fully with the uncreated, is made infinite and deified. This is a

prime and most relevant example of Gods infinite grace.

In the first canticle, the canon tells us of our natural state as it was before the fall:

As the potter moulds the clay,

Thou hast fashioned me,

Giving me flesh and bones,

Breath and life

The first line is directly taken from Gen. 2:7 The Lord God formed man of dust

from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a

6 Sister Katherine & Sister Thekla (ed.), St Andrew of Crete : The Great Canon St Mary of Egypt :

The Life (North Yorkshire, England : The Greek Orthodox Monastery of Assumption, 1974),32.7 Peter E.Guilquist (ed.), The Orthodox Study Bible (Nashville, Tennessee:Thomas Nelson

Publishers, 1997), 32.

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living being. This signifies that the life within us is Gods own life. The life of all

creation is in Him.8

This makes more sense when reading the prophecy of Jeremiah which clarifies the

incarnation of Christ:

I went to the potters house And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in

the potters hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the

potter to do (Jeremiah 18:3-4)

God constructs man as a potter moulds clay. The potter has full control of the

material at hand. The creator constructs (Thou has fashioned me) that which

pertains to the body (flesh and bones) and to the soul (breath and life). Nellas

affirms: These two dimensions of man unite the human person organically with the

material and spiritual dimensions of creation, and make him a recapitulator of the

universe, a microcosm.9

This shows that man in his entirety has origins and reason of existence rooted in

God, since he is created in the image of God. Man cannot find beauty without the

creator who initially bestowed it. As in the beginning the Canon offers a clear

depiction of the state of man as he was created by God and the effects thereafter.

That is of health, harmony, beauty, and bliss in God. Gods energies are then

transferred to man by His Grace - His love, life and glory.

The tabernacle fashioned by God

The first robe

That the Creator wove for me in the beginning

The beauty of the image

The beauty which was first created

The first fruits of the original beauty (canticle 2)

8 Frederica Mathewes-Green,First Fruits of Prayer: A Forty Day Journey through the Canon of St

Andrew (Brewster, Massachusetts: Paraclete Press, 2006), 6.9 Panagiotis Nellas,Deification in Christ, trans.Norman Russel (Crestwood, N.Y:SVS Press, 1987),

173.

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This tabernacle fashioned by God is what St Paul spoke of to the Corinthians as the

body which is created as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). This leads

humanity to its ultimate purpose in life, to experience the delight of the eternal

kingdom (Canticle 1). Humanity has been granted the royal dignity the diadem

and purple robe...and is wealthy and righteous laden with riches and flocks.

(Canticle 4)

However, humanity voluntary changes its direction or objective and becomes its

own idol limiting itself to time and space, and instead of becoming a theological

being, it becomes a biological one, living by his [its] own nature10. A spiritual

famine brakes out amongst all humanity, and now it has deprived itself of Gods

Grace:

A famine of God has seized thee

Knowing myself stripped naked of God (canticle 1).

Sin and repentance are constant in the great canon and cannot be underestimated, so

it is worth while examining. Many verbs are used and the cause of sin is also

described, here St Andrews teaches how to pray in a God pleasing way, that is, to

own up that one is a sinner:

I have sinned, I have offended,

I have set aside Thy commandments;

(Canticle 7)

Another beauty of the Canon is the description of the anthropological setting of

contrition engaged by a wonderful depth of the human soul and the psychosomatic

constitution of the human being; this leads to a possibility to enter into a living

experience.11 Much emphasis is placed on the lustful pursuits which discolor the

10 Makarios of Egypt, Spiritual Homilies cited in Panagiotis Nellas,Deification in Christ,

trans.Norman Russel (Crestwood, N.Y:SVS Press, 1987),175.11 Panagiotis Nellas,Deification in Christ, trans.Norman Russel (Crestwood, N.Y:SVS Press, 1987),

177.

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original garment and offend and desecrate the temple where the Spirit is to dwell.

With my lustful desires

I have formed within myself the deformity of the passions and disfigured the beauty

of my mind. (Canticle 2).

The obstacles that halter our accent to being Christ-like are idols, since they are

forms that try to replace the source of life, life in Christ. For example, to be attached

to any God given gift is a sin of misuse and abuse that distances one from Gods

grace. Everything is given as a test where God in the end assesses whether we place

priority in His creations or in Him, our Creator and source of life.

When a person voluntarily rejects God, their heart is hardened and they become

impudent according to the Great Canon. This is so because instead of living as an

image of God in light of the Archetype, one lives as their own idol, as though they

are the archetype. Consequently the unity of ones psychosomatic functions is

ruptured and the integrity of the person is shattered.12

The purpose of the Great Canon is to help humanity become aware of the tragic

nature of the unnatural situation in which it finds itself corrupted by sin. Humanitys

brokenness is renewed by the incarnation of Christ which not only heals but also

offers an irresistible hope, as humanity is oriented back to its Archetype, it is

reminded that it was created in the image of Christ, and its goal is His likeness;

Humanity now is in a state of joyful sorrow as it expects salvation, to fulfill it

purpose. The nature of humanity is to be the temple of the Holy Spirit and to live in

the likeness of Christ. The service of the Great Canon strengthens people in their

struggle to return to the prelapsarian life in accordance with nature, as it is perfected

in Christ. By repenting and living in vigilance/awareness of ones brokenness St

Andrew inspires each person who reads the poem to struggle for salvation as did

our forefathers. To achieve this goal, St Andrew transfigured scripture by

personalizing, interiorizing and subjectifying all biblical events and characters

12 Panagiotis Nellas,Deification in Christ, trans.Norman Russel (Crestwood, N.Y:SVS Press, 1987),

179.

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evoked in the poem (except Jesus and the Theotokos). 13 It becomes his own creative

masterpiece yet loyal to the Scriptures and Holy Tradition conveyed in the form of

poetry; and it relates and penetrates each of us to always keep in mind salvation on

a personal and communal level. As Schmemmann said, the events of sacred history

are revealed as events ofmy life, Gods acts in the past as acts aimed at me and my

salvation.14St Andrews great canon teaches and instructs us to live a certain life-

style appropriate and befitting of our purpose in this life. It demonstrates the

sinfulness of all except Jesus and Mary, and yet it highlights salvation to all who are

willing to repent, toward personalformation and holistic transformation.15


Significance of St Andrew of Cretes Great Canon, Phronema 23 (2008).


Significance of St Andrew of Cretes Great Canon, Phronema 23 (2008).15 Ibid. 60.

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Bibliography

Costache, (Father) Doru. Reading the Scriptures with Byzantine Eyes : The Hermeneutical

Significance of St Andrew of Cretes Great Canon. Phronema 23 (2008) : 51-66.

Mathewes-Green. FredericaFirst Fruits of Prayer: A Forty Day Journey through the Canon of St

Andrew. Brewster, Massachusetts: Paraclete Press, 2006.

Nellas, Panagiotis.Deification in Christ, translatedby Norman Russell. Crestwood, N.Y:SVS Press,1987.

Sister Katherine & Sister Thekla (ed.). St Andrew of Crete: The Great Canon St Mary of Egypt: The

Life. North Yorkshire, England: The Greek Orthodox Monastery of Assumption, 1974.

Peter E.Guilquist (ed.). The Orthodox Study Bible. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers,

1997.

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