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'.

Brush up your rubrics: Getting ready for Advent Part I - Prime and Compline in Advent

I want to offer a short series of notes and links on the Office of Advent to encourage you to start preparing now.

Advent is easily the most complex period when it comes to saying the Office, due to the mix of texts that need to be juggled for the season, week of Advent, day of the week and date.  But on the positive side, Advent also includes some of the most beautiful texts and chants in the repertoire, which are well worth learning.

Accordingly, today a look at Compline and Prime, which are relatively straightforward.

Compline

At Compline, apart from chant tones, the only change is in the Marian antiphon, which becomes Alma Redemptoris Mater.

For the psalms, the most commonly utilised chant tone is actually the one (in directum) that appears in most chant books (I haven't been able to find the other seasonal tones in a printed book - do let me know if you know of a good source for these!).  You can get a feel for it by listening to one of the archived podcasts from Le Barroux).

For the hymn tone, you can listen to Te lucis ante terminum sung to the Advent tone (page 183 in the Antiphonale Monasticum) over at Liber Hynarius.

For the Marian antiphon, on weekdays use the simple tone:



On Saturdays, Sundays and major feasts, the Solemn tone.  Here it is sung by the nuns of Argentan:

Prime

The key change to Prime is that instead of the normal antiphons for each day of the week, there are antiphons for each week of Advent (up to December 16), and then each day of the week (December 17-23).

Up to and including December 16

Up until December 16, the antiphon for Prime (except where displaced by feasts) is the first antiphon of Lauds on Sunday.

So for week I of Advent, the antiphon is In illa die; in week 2 of Advent, Ecce in nubibus caeli.

As well as under Sundays in Advent, you can also find them in the section that sets out the Ordinary of Advent, on MD 13* (right at the front of the Diurnal).

The psalms (of each day of the week), chapter, versicles and collect all stay as usual.

The text of the hymn remains unchanged (Iam lucis), but there is an Advent hymn tone to use - the tone is the same for all of the hymns from Prime to None, and you can find it in the Antiphonale Monasticum. 

December 17-23

Between December 17 and 23, there is a different antiphon for each day of the week, and you can find these on pages 37*-40*.

The antiphon for Prime is, as usual, the first antiphon of Lauds.