A quick guide to Compline

 Today a quick summary guide to Compline, which is easily the best hour to start with if you are new to the Office, in part because it is the same every day in the Benedictine Office, and in part because the Diurnal mostly writes out the texts for it in full.

When is Compline said

Compline is the last of the 'day' hours, though actually typically said after sunset, and in a monastery, often in darkness, sung from memory.

It is essentially about preparing for sleep, and so saying it shortly before you go to bed is very appropriate, though it can of course be said earlier.

Where to find Compline in your book

Compline is the last hour in the psalter section of the Diurnal, starting on page 256.

The structure of Compline

If you compare the structure of Compline to the Benedictine Rule, you will quickly realise that quite a lot has been added to this hour after St Benedict's time!  

The hour essentially has three sections.  

The first, the opening section with a short lesson, examination of conscience and Confiteor, down to the 'convert us, O God..' probably comes from the later development of the Roman Office.  

The middle section, starting with the 'O God come to our aid', is as described by St Benedict.  

And the final Marian antiphon and prayer is a later monastic addition subsequently also adopted by the Roman Office.

In a monastery there is actually usually another set of prayers after that, including a blessing of those present with holy water while the verses of Psalm 50 starting with 'asperges me...' are recited.

As well as the structure and page numbers, I've included notes on the postures/gestures used in the table below, but keep in mind that these are optional out of choir.

KEY WORDS	OFFICE COMPONENT (with links to rubrics notes)	NOTES	PAGE
Jube Domne/Pray father, a blessing	Blessing and short lesson	Kneel for the blessing, stand for the reading.	MD 256 AM 167
Adjutorium nostrum/Our help…	Versicle	+	MD 257 AM 167
Confiteor/I confess	Examen and confession (or Pater Noster in silence)	Use formula for éxtra chorum’/out of choir.  Bow.	MD 258-9 AM 167-9
Converte nos Deus (Convert us O Lord)	Versicle	+ Stand	MD 259 AM 169
Deus in adjutorium/O Lord come to my aid	Opening prayers	Stand
Cum invocarem/When I cried (Ps 4)	Psalms without antiphons	Sit after the half of the first verse has been sung; stand for the doxology ‘Gloria Patri...’ which is added to the end of each psalm.	MD 260 AM 169
Qui habitat/He that dwelleth (Ps 90)			MD261 AM 169
Ecce Nunc/Come now, bless the Lord (Ps 133)			MD 262 AM 170
Te Lucis ante Terminum/To Thee before the close of day	Hymn	Stand. Hymn tones varies with season, feast and day	MD 263 AM 170-172
Tu autem Domine	Chapter		MD 263 AM 1762
Custodi nos Domine	Versicle		MD 263 AM  172
Kyrie eleison	Closing prayers including the collect and final blessing	Note that the litany is not doubled (or trebled). Stand or kneel (in Lent and Advent) Bow for Pater Noster, collect and blessing.	MD 264-5 AM 172 (omit the section labelled ‘Preces’, not used in the 1962 Office)
[Antiphon of the season]	Marion antiphon, versicle and collect	Simple tones used weekdays; solemn for Saturdays, Sundays and feasts. Said kneeling except Saturdays, Sundays and Eastertide.	MD 265-69 AM 173-180

For more on the hour, go here.

Tips and traps

The key thing to be aware of is that after the examination of conscience (or Our Father), the text that follows immediately (marked as 'The hebdomadary recites...) is intended for use in choir (ie in a monastery) - if you are saying it by yourself, skip over to the bottom of the next page, to where it says 'Out of choir...'

Similarly, when it comes to the concluding prayers, note that it provides two versions of an important recurring formula, used at all of the hours  The first, Dominus vobiscum/The Lord be with you, is only used if a priest or deacon is saying it.  The second, Domine exaudi/O Lord hear my prayer is used by everyone else at all hours.

The only moving part of the hour (chant tones aside) is the Marian antiphon, which changes with the main liturgical seasons. 

The spirituality of the hour

The Benedictine version of Compline differs from the Roman in several respects.

First, in the post 1910 version of the Roman Office, the psalms of Compline actually change each day of the week, whereas they are fixed in the Benedictine version of the hour.

But even in the pre 1910 version there are two key differences, in that the Roman Office also included the first several verses of Psalm 30 (ending on the verse into thy hands, Lord, I commend my spirit), and also includes the Nunc Dimittis.

Both of these are quite beautiful so its interesting to speculate on just why St Benedict omitted them (and the Nunc Dimittis at least, seems to have been used at the hour from very early on indeed).  

Part of the explanation, I suspect, is that the Roman version puts more emphasis preparing for sleep as 'the little death'. 

That's obviously part of the monastic focus as well, but monks were viewed above all as people of the night, keeping vigil in prayer for the protection of the laity through the night, hence the appropriateness of concluding the psalmody with the last of the Gradual psalms, and saying 'Come now bless the Lord...at night lift up your hands'.

New to the Monastic Diurnal?

 

This just a quick reference post for those just starting out with the Monastic Diurnal.

Start simple - Prime and Compline

First, if you are new to the Benedictine Office, I'd strongly recommend starting with the hours Compline (said in the evening, before bed) and then Prime (said in the morning, before work) as these are the simplest of the hours, work well as morning and evening prayer, and are a great way to become familiar with how the Office works.

Lauds and Vespers are more complex, so unless you are already familiar with them, I'd suggest leaving them for later.

Learn how the books work

Secondly, it is worth investing some time upfront and make sure you know:

• where to find things in the book;
• the shorthand the diurnal uses - the book doesn't always write things out in full, so be aware of some of the tricks and traps!

If you are completely new to the Office, start with my Office basics series.

Otherwise, take a look at the notes for each hour, and read the notes on the individual components of each hour if you want or need to.

Use an Ordo

Thirdly, even if you are expert, use an Ordo to make sure you know which Sunday of the year it is, and feasts or days you should (or could) be marking in the Office each day.

There are a few choices around.  Particularly if you an absolute beginner, I'd suggest taking a look at the one I produce, which is available from Lulu in PDF, Epub and book form (next liturgical year's should be available in early November) as it provides detailed instructions for each day of the year, including page numbers.

Alternatively, if you can read Latin, you can use the Ordo on the Divinum Officium website (choose the Monastic 1963 option).  It doesn't provide detailed instructions, but you can cross-check with its presentations of the relevant hours.  Note though that it does occasionally contain errors and/or follow pre-1963 rubrics/texts.

If you are an oblate of a monastery you should also check out if they make an Ordo available  - Le Barroux publishes its on its website.

Read St Benedict's instructions on the Office in the Rule

I would also strongly recommend reading the chapters in the Rule that describe the Benedictine Office (chapters 8 - 19) - its good to know how much continuity there is, but also to get a sense of what Benedictines regard as pretty much fixed (viz the basic structure of the hours and the ferial psalms said at them), and what has developed over time.

Ask questions

If you get struck, you can either ask questions through the comments section on the blog, or by joining the Traditional Benedictine Office group (note though that this is not for Benedictine spirituality more generally, it is strictly for the Office), or the more general Breviary and Divine Office Discussion Group on facebook.

More to come

For those who want a bit more guidance, here are some summary posts for each hour that aim to give you a starting point, as well as links to more detailed notes:

• A quick guide to Lauds;
  
• A quick guide to Prime;
• A quick guide to Terce, Sext and None;
  
• A quick guide to Vespers; 
  
• A quick guide to Compline;
• A quick guide to Matins (to come).

A Quick guide to Vespers

Continuing my series with some summary notes to get you started, and links to where to find out more, today some notes on the sixth of the day hours, Vespers.

What is Vespers?

Vespers is technically the parallel hour to Lauds, and so was originally said at sunset.  In late antiquity it was also often known as lucernarium, for the lamp-lighting ceremony that was often part of it, and which symbolised the idea of Christ as light in the darkness.  

In Rome, however, unlike the East and many other places, lucernarium seems to have been strictly a domestic ceremony, and so was, so far as the evidence can show, never incorporated into the liturgy of Vespers as such.

For that reason, perhaps, St Benedict's Rule actually somewhat subverts the idea of it as paralleling Lauds, by suggesting that the monks say it a little earlier in order to have dinner without needing to light the lamps and candles. 

Instead, Benedictine Vespers, focuses more on the humility theme that runs through Prime to None, particularly the proposition that the humble will ultimately triumph, while the proud will ultimately fall, both through the use of the Magnificat at the hour, and verses in the psalms each day around the same theme.   

Where to find Vespers in your book

Because Vespers uses the psalm sequence 109 - 147 (jumping over a few used at other hours along the way), it appears towards the end of the psalter section, starting at page 203 in the Monastic Diurnal.

The structure of Vespers

Vespers has a similar structure to Lauds, but with no invitatory or fixed psalm, and only variable four psalms (or parts of psalms) each day.

But although the basic structure of the hour is always the same, Vespers can be a difficult hour to locate all the necessary texts for since, as the table below indicates, pretty much every element of it (except the opening and closing formulas and the Magnificat) can change according to the season and/or feast.

Where Lauds, for example, has only one set of 'festal' psalms, there are many different variants for Vespers.

The structure of Vespers
Opening prayers	MD 1
Antiphons (normally said before and after each psalm) and psalms	Sunday: MD 203 ff (or of the feast) Monday: MD 212 ff (or of the feast). Tuesday: MD 220 ff (or of the feast). Wednesday: MD 226 ff (or of the feast). Thursday: MD 235 ff (or of the feast). Friday: MD 243 ff (or of the feast). Saturday: MD 249 ff.
Chapter	Of the day, season or feast.
Short Responsory	Of the day, season or feast.
Hymn	Of the day, season or feast.
Versicle	Of the day, season or feast.
Antiphon for the Magnificat (repeated before and after the canticle)	Saturday: For I Vespers of the Sunday of the liturgical year. Sunday: For the Sunday of the liturgical year (or feast). Monday to Friday: For day, season or feast.
Magnificat	MD 209
Closing prayers	MD 210
Collect	Of the week of the liturgical year, day or feast.

 

You can find more detailed notes on the hour here.

Tips and traps

First, note that the opening of the hour (Deus in adjutorium) is not written out in full for each day at Vespers - if you don't know it by heart, go back to page 1 of the psalter section of the book and put a ribbon there until you have learn it!

Secondly, the short responsory at Vespers works the same way as that for Lauds - but remember that the Diurnal doesn't usually write it out in full, you need to treat the words as cues only.

Thirdly, Saturday Vespers has a variable antiphon for the Magnificat which generally links to the book of the Bible being read at Matins.  From August to November, they are labelled for the calendar month (starting on page 451* in the Diurnal) rather than the Sunday after Pentecost.

Related to this, the collect for Saturday Vespers is that of the next day (Sunday), not the previous one.   

Finally, remember that first class feasts have a 'first Vespers' the night before the feast.  I've provided some more detailed notes on the effect of feasts in the more detailed series on Vespers, but here is a summary to help you prepare.

LEVEL OF FEAST	EFFECT ON VESPERS
Memorial	None (Lauds only).
Class III without proper antiphons	Psalms and antiphons of the day;  Chapter, responsory, hymn etc from the Common
Class III with proper antiphons	Psalms of Sunday or the Common; antiphons of the feast; chapter etc for the feast (from the proper of the feast or the Common)
Class II	All for the feast (or from the Common of Saints or season), including psalms of feast, Sunday or Common
Class I	All for the feast (or from the Common of saints or season) with I Vespers the night before

The psalms and spirituality of the hour

If you want to dig into the meaning of the psalms a little deeper, you can find notes on them here.

I've also done some posts on the themes that run through Vespers which you can find here.

A quick guide to Terce to None

Continuing my series of summary notes on the hours, this time aimed at helping you say the hours of Terce, Sext and None of the Benedictine Office with confidence using the Monastic Diurnal.

What are Terce, Sext and None?

The names of these hours refer to the third hour of the day (ie mid-morning), the sixth hour (noon) and ninth hour (mid-afternoon).

These hours are very ancient indeed, mentioned several times in the Old Testament, making the decision to require only one of the three to be said in the 'Liturgy of the Hours' very difficult to understand indeed.

And in the Benedictine Office, they are structured around the theme of ascent, with each of the these hours from Sunday to Tuesday broadly corresponding to one of the degrees of humility in St Benedict's schema (the missing two steps are represented by the Gradual Psalm(s) said at Monday and Tuesday Vespers).

Where to find the hours in your book

Sunday Terce is located in the Diurnal after Sunday Prime (which comes after Saturday Lauds in the psalter section) and the sequence continues from there.

Sunday and Monday have their own 'psalms' (section of Psalm 118), from Tuesday to Saturday the first nine of the Gradual Psalms are said at these hours.

Structure and page numbers for Terce, Sext and None

The basic structure of these three hours is very similar to Prime - a hymn (the same each day of the week), followed by three psalms said under one antiphon, then a chapter (short reading), versicle and the standard closing section (starting Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison).

The key difference is that not only the antiphon, but also the chapter, versicle and collect can change.

 

TERCE	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday to Saturday
Opening prayers	MD 1
Hymn (Nunc Sancte)	MD 151	MD 162	MD 183
Antiphon	Of the season, day, date or feast (on feasts, usually antiphon 2 of Lauds).
Psalms	MD 152	MD 164	MD 184
Antiphon	Of the day, season or feast.
Chapter
Versicle
Closing prayers	MD 154-5 with of the week, day or feast (see weekly Ordo).

SEXT	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday to Saturday
Opening prayers	MD 1
Hymn (Rector Potens)	MD 155-6	MD 169-70	MD 183
Antiphon	Of the season, day or feast (on feasts, usually antiphon 3 of Lauds).
Psalms	MD 156	MD 171	MD 191
Antiphon	Of the day, season or feast.
Chapter
Versicle
Closing prayers	MD 154-5 with collect of the week, day or feast.

 

NONE	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday to Saturday
Opening prayers	MD 1
Hymn (Rerum Deus)	MD 159	MD 176	MD 196
Antiphon	Of the day, season or feast (on feasts, usually antiphon 5 of Lauds).
Psalms	MD 160	MD 178	MD 198
Antiphon	Of the day, season or feast.
Chapter
Versicle
Closing prayers	MD 154-5 with collect of the week, day or feast.

You can find more detailed notes on how to say these hours here. 

Tips and traps for Terce, Sext and None

On feasts, the antiphons for these hours are usually those of the second antiphon of Lauds for Terce, the third for sext and the fifth (not the fourth) for None.

The chapter for Terce is usually also said at Lauds and Vespers, but with a versicle instead of the short responsory.

The 'default' collect (unless displaced by a feast or other special day) is that of the previous Sunday.

A quick guide to Prime

Continuing my quick guide series to the Benedictine Office using the Monastic Diurnal, the second hour of the day is Prime.

What is Prime?

Prime has been abolished in the modern Liturgy of the Hours, and many Benedictine monasteries have followed suit, 'in the spirit of Vatican II'.  

That's a shame, because it is one of the most distinctively 'Benedictine' hours in its spirituality and design.

Prime, named for the first hour of the day, can be used as your main morning prayer - traditionally oblates were encouraged to say Prime and Compline, not least since they are relatively short and the simplest of the hours to learn.

In a monastery it is traditionally the hour said before the first work period of the day, and is immediately followed by 'chapter' (which is entirely optional outside a monastery since it is not mentioned in the Rule of St Benedict, and so is not included in the Diurnal for that reason), said in the chapter room named for it.

Chapter typically includes the reading of the martyrology, the daily section of the Rule (and often a short homily on it), and prayers for the deceased members and those associated with the community.  Chapter can also include any necessary discussion of work assignments and so forth.

Where can you find Prime in your book?

Prime for Monday to Saturday (Psalms 1-2, 6-19) can be found right at the beginning of the Psalter section of the Diurnal (middle of the book).

Prime on Sunday however, starts on page 146 (after Saturday Lauds), as it uses the first four stanzas of Psalm 118).

Structure and page numbers for Prime

Opening prayers	MD 1
Hymn	MD 1-2; 146-7 (Sunday)
Antiphon (said before the beginning  of the psalms, and repeated at the end  after the three or four psalms of the day  have been said).	Of the day of the week (see below for psalms), date, feast or season (on feasts etc, usually antiphon 1 of Lauds)
Psalms of the day of the week	Monday - MD 3 ff. Tuesday - start MD 10 ff. Wednesday – MD 16 ff. Thursday – MD 20 ff. Friday - MD 24 ff. Saturday - MD 31 ff. Sunday- MD 147 ff.
Chapter	MD 7 or 150.
Versicle	MD 7 or 150.
Closing prayers, including collect.	MD 8-9.

 

You can find more detailed notes on how to say Prime starting here.

Trips and tracks around Prime

The key thing to remember with Prime is that the opening and closing prayers for it are set out on page 1 of the psalter section, and under Monday Prime.  These opening prayers need to be said every day, even though this is not spelt out under each day of the week.

So on Tuesday, for example, you need to turn back to page 1 for the Deus in adjutorium/O God come to my aid and hymn before saying the antiphon and psalms for that day, and go back to page 7 after you've said the antiphon after the psalms for the chapter, versicle and closing section of the hour.

The good news is that apart from the antiphon and psalms (or parts of psalms), everything (including the collect) stays the same each day.

The other key thing to keep in mind is that on feasts (Class III or above), instead of using the antiphon for the season, you use one for the feast, usually (but not always) the first antiphon of Lauds.

The psalms and spirituality of the hour

At Lauds, the focus is on the Resurrection, and the possibility it invites for us to invite the light of Christ into our lives, and to participate in the remaking of the world, the new Creation (Psalms 148-150). 

Prime tells us how to actually set about making this a reality, namely taking the first step of humility (chapter 7 of the Rule), which is, in essence, keeping in mind always an awareness of the presence of God.  

Much of St Benedict's discussion of the first step of humility in the Rule seems to have been inspired by St Ambrose's commentary on the first four stanzas of Psalm 118 (said on Sunday at Prime, and also echoed in the closing sentences of the Prologue to the Rule).  The theme of 'practical atheism' - acting as if God does not exist or does not care, and the consequences and antidotes to this - runs through the rest of the psalms of the hour.

You can find notes on the psalms of Prime to help you with the Latin, as well as their broader meaning, here.