The Great Canon is an unparalleled hymnological text. It expresses the feelings of the "distressed" man, who moved away from God because he preferred sin. It is about a spiritual outburst of man, the moment he realizes his tragedy, a tragedy for which he himself is responsible. Alienation, loneliness, fear, agony are evident in all the tropes of his hymn. They are the tragic consequences of the fall, the consequences of sin. Wanted? The new Adam, the Christ, Who will lead man out of the narrow framework of death and will help him enter the immensity of forgiveness, repentance, joy, i.e. the recovery of the lost homeland, Paradise.

The author of the Great Canon is Saint Andrew of Crete. This text of our hymnology is called so because of its large extent, the many tropes of the nine verses of which it is composed. From the very first reading one will find that it is a text dense in concepts, rich in symbolism and with many references to biblical figures and events. The Great Canon holds the position of a spiritual alarm, because it tries to sensitize the well-intentioned person so that, after realizing his sinfulness, he can reach the much-desired repentance.