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
| | Kneel for the blessing, stand for the reading. | MD 256 AM 167 |
Adjutorium nostrum/Our help…
| | + | MD 257 AM 167
|
Confiteor/I confess | | Use formula for éxtra chorum’/out of choir. Bow.
| MD 258-9 AM 167-9 |
Converte nos Deus (Convert us O Lord)
| | +
Stand | MD 259 AM 169
|
Deus in adjutorium/O Lord come to my aid
| | Stand |
|
Cum invocarem/When I cried (Ps 4)
| | 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
| | Stand.
Hymn tones varies with season, feast and day | MD 263 AM 170-172
|
Tu autem Domine | | MD 263 AM 1762
|
Custodi nos Domine | | MD 263 AM 172
|
Kyrie eleison | | 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] | | 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'.
