On March 13, on Wednesday of the first week of Lent the Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Compline with the reading of penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete.

This Canon is composed as a conversation of a person with his own soul. It reveals that often we imitate sinners mentioned in the Scripture but do not wish to follow the steps of the righteous ones. It also calls us to bring the fruits of repentance and not to exalt ourselves.

Following the service the Rector preached a sermon about the significance of penitential Canon for the faithful. The Canon’s purpose is to teach us about our sinfulness and imperfection. He noted that our human imperfection can be observed in many details of our life. For instance, in our economy we always see the inflation: everything becomes more and more expensive while the money loses is value. Although the scholars in economy tell us that it is necessary, a man of faith perceives that it is an example of how imperfect we are. Anything man does is not free from defects or shortcomings. Thus our moral and spiritual life is also imperfect and sinful. Awareness of that and true repentance may lead us to the perfect God who will forgive and save us.