The Great Canon

Where shall I begin to lament the deeds of my wretched life?
What first fruits shall I offer, O Christ, for my present lamentation? But in Thy compassion grant me release from my falls.
Come, my wretched soul,
and with your flesh confess to the Creator of all.
In future refrain from your former brutishness,
and offer to God tears in repentance.

Thus begins our familiar text read before our eyes in a familiar custom of our Orthodox life. As Lent begins each year, its initial days are marked out by two defining features or characteristics. The first, the increased focus on the Psalter, which will remain constant throughout the entirety of the forty days; and the second, the words of St. Andrew and the Great Canon, which punctuate the evenings of the first four days of the Fast and then return in their full form in the fifth week.