The Great Canon is an unparalleled hymnological text. It expresses the feelings of the "fallen" man, who has distanced himself from God because he preferred sin. It is a spiritual outburst of man at the moment he realizes his tragedy, a tragedy for which he is responsible.

Alienation, loneliness, fear, and anguish are evident in all the stanzas of this hymn. They are the tragic consequences of the fall, the results of sin. What is sought? The new Adam, Christ, who will lead man out of the narrow confines of death and help him to rush into the vastness of forgiveness, repentance, and joy, that is, the recovery of the lost homeland, Paradise.

The author of the Great Canon is Saint Andrew of Crete. This hymnological text is named so because of its great length and the many stanzas of the nine odes from which it is composed.

From the very first reading, one will realize that it is a text dense with concepts, rich in symbolism, and with many references to biblical figures and events. The Great Canon serves as a spiritual wake-up call, as it seeks to sensitize the well-disposed person so that, upon realizing his sinfulness, he may reach the longed-for repentance.