The Standing of St. Mary of Egypt

“The Standing of St. Mary of Egypt” (Thursday of the Great Canon

“>Thursday of the Great Canon in the Typikon) is the name of Thursday’s Matins service of the Fifth Week of Great Lent (typically served, however, on Wednesday evening).   

During this Matins service, the The Great Canon of Repentance by St. Andrew, Bishop of Crete (c.650 – c.726; Bishop from c.685 – c.726)Where shall I begin to weep for the actions of my wretched life? What first-fruit shall I offer, O Christ, in this my lamentation? But in Thy compassion grant me forgiveness of sins.

“>Great Penitential Canon and the Venerable Mary of EgyptCovered by the cloak, the ascetic turned to Zosimas: “Why do you want to speak with me, a sinful woman? What did you wish to learn from me, you who have not shrunk from such great labors?””>Life of Venerable Mary of Egypt are read in full. The hagiography is divided into two parts: the first is read after the kathisma; the second is read after the third ode.

The reading of the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is the main feature of this Matins service. This practice originated around the ninth century and its history is as follows.

On March 17, 790 A.D., Constantinople was hit by an earthquake. This event was of such magnitude that it “ended up” being included in the Menologion of Emperor Basil II. The Typikon of the Great Church for the date of March 17 mentions special Old Testament reading for the Sixth Hour and special readings for the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts, such as prokeimena, Old Testament readings, the readings from the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel. Also, special prokeimena and Old Testament readigs for March 17 were read instead of regular readings. If we take into account that the Typikon of the Great Church had special readings assigned only to four days in March (apart from for the remembrance of the earthquake on March 17, only three feasts—of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, of the Holy Hierarch Thomas of Constantinople (March 22) and the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God were given this honor), it becomes obvious that the memory of the earthquake was a major date in the Menologion.

During the earthquake, the nuns of the monastery of St. Patapius (a seventh century saint commemorated on December 8) in Constantinople went to the square in fear of being buried under the rubble and began reading this penitential canon. This precedent influenced the fact that later the Great Canon became associated with the memory of the earthquake, and therefore its ecclesiastical use has been primarily connected to the day when there was liturgical commemoration of the earthquake.

It is possible that the Great Canon was also first assigned for reading on the permanent date of March 17. Indeed, the Great Canon as a penitential work (a model of repentance) was the ideal liturgical text for such a memorial—an earthquake in the biblical and Christian worldview is always perceived as God’s judgment over the sinful people, with repentance as a natural reaction to such an event.

At first, the memory of the earthquake “wandered” through the Triodion, falling on different dates. Later on, because of the inconvenience of such a situation, a decision was made to attach the service of the Great Canon to a certain date of the Triodion. Thursday of the Fifth Week was selected; this happened in the second half of the ninth century (however, the Great Canon was firmly set on this date much later, because in the ninth and through the eleventh centuries, the canon was still read on different days of Lent). Why? Probably one reasons was that during Thursday Vespers a fragment about the destruction of Sodom is read from the Old Testament. With that said, it was determined to commemorate on this day another heaven-sent calamity—an earthquake.

Beginning from the eleventh century, the hagiography and troparia in honor of St. Mary of Egypt were also added to the service of Thursday of the Fifth Week. Interestingly, the Typikon of Alexios the Studite (early eleventh century) holds neither the hagiography nor troparia of the canon of St. Mary of Egypt. However, the Typikon of Evergetides (late eleventh and early twelfth century) already includes both parts. It is believed that the primary motive for adding the hagiography was that it was conceptually linked to the canon—St. Mary of Egypt manifested the ideal in her life of true and profound repentance, which St. Andrew portrayed in his canon. Following the addition of the hagiography, the troparia of the canon were also added. It is worth noting that these troparia present a special set of prayers; they have their own acrostic and differ from the troparia of the other two commemoration days of the St. Mary of Egypt—the canon from the menaon for April 1 and the canon of the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent. That said, the troparia to St. Mary of Egypt did not take their current place right away. The Typikon of the Evergetides Monastery indicates that the canon of St. Mary of Egypt was to be read not along with the Great Canon, but at the pannychis ¹ (in fact, another canon, in the Sixth Tone, composed by Saint Simeon the New Theologian, is designated for use). Moreover, these troparia are even absent in some fourteenth century manuscripts, while the early printed Triodion books have no troparia to the saint in Ode II of the canon.

The reading of the Life of St. Mary of Egypt is a memorable feature of this service. Moreover, it is the only reading of all the various hagiographies and interpretive readings from the Typikon that is still in use in our parishes. Considering the length of the service and the fact that the Great Canon is heard while standing, the service is called the “Standing,” and since the reading is about the life of St. Mary of Egypt, it is known as the “Standing of St. Mary of Egypt.” This name is not strictly used in the liturgical books, but is purely and solely a colloquial name. In the twenty-first century, however, the name became so popular that it even found its way into the liturgical books.