The Canon is parsed to be prayed over the first four evenings of the first week of the Great Fast, and then again in its entirety on Thursday of the Week St. Mary of Egypt (fifth week).
The Canon is a dialogue between St. Andrew and his soul, in which he urges himself to change his life, focusing on his sinfulness and comparing it to both good and bad examples in Holy Scripture from both the New and the Old Testaments.
And Irmos (the 'initial' Troparion of an Ode in the Canon) begins each section of the Canon. It is most often sung by a choir, but hopefully by all the gathered faithful. The Ode 1 Irmos prayer is, A Helper and a Protector has become salvation to me. This is my God, I will glorify Him! God of my fathers, I will exult Him, for in glory was He glorified! Then between following Troparia, the refrain is sung, Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me!
The Canon is gifted to us as a tool to be used to expose to our own souls sins described by a great saint of the Church, and then in ascribing those same sins to ourselves, to seek sincere repentance.
The Great Canon was written by St. Andrew who was seeking the path for the right way to live. If we are to benefit from his great work in gifting this Canon to us, we must make it a priority to stand in prayer, in the church, and not just listen to the words of the Canon, but to pray them - sincerely - with all others present, with a great desire and expectation for God’s grace to teach us and to heal us. Orthodoxy is a faith requiring engagement, it is to be experienced and prayed, and not observed.
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