compline

It is an ancient service of quietness and reflection before rest at the end of the day. The service is most effective when the ending is an ending, without further conversation or noise. If compline is held in church, those present depart in silence; if at home, they go quietly to bed.

The ancient office of Compline derives its name from a Latin word meaning 'completion' (completorium). It is above all a service of quietness and reflection before rest at the end of the day. It is most effective when the ending is indeed an ending, without additions, conversation or noise.

Compline is a simple office including a confession of sins, one or more psalms, a short reading from scripture, versicles and responses, the Lord's Prayer, collects which ask for God's protection during the night to come, and the canticle Nunc dimittis.

In the breviary of 1974 Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, compline is divided as follows: introduction, an optional examination of conscience or penitential rite, a hymn, psalmody with accompanying antiphons, scriptural reading, the responsory, the Canticle of Simeon, concluding prayer, and benediction.

Small compline is the private, bedtime prayer office. The opening prayers of Compline are like those of vespers. Nine Psalms are appointed for great compline and small compline. At small compline, officially, one would pray 51, 70 and 143; at great compline, officially, one would pray Psalms 4, 6, 13, 25, 31 and 91.

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake.

Sext (sixth hour, noon) Nones (ninth hour, 3 p.m.) Vespers (sunset, approximately 6 p.m.) Compline (end of the day before retiring, approximately 7 p.m.)

Compline is the final prayer of the day to be said before going to bed, even if this is after midnight. Compline, like the other Hours, is begun with the verse “O God, come to my assistance” whilst making the sign of the cross, followed by the “Glory be to the Father” and (outside of Lent) the Alleluia.

By the Early Middle Ages, it became common for secular clergy to combine vespers and compline. By the sixteenth century, worshippers in western Europe conceived 'evensong' as vespers and compline performed without break.

The word “Evensong” is a term first used in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. It refers to the service of Evening Prayer. (Even a completely spoken service of Evening Prayer might be called “Evensong.”)

In Choral Evensong, a church choir will sing composed responses, canticles, one or more psalms, and a choral anthem, sometimes ending with a congregational hymn. The service is relatively passive for the attendee, with little spoken involvement to allow for quiet contemplation at the end of the day.

The service allows people to engage with it in their own way. Indeed, there is very little for the congregation to do – one needs only say the Confession and Apostles' Creed if one wants to, and the same goes for singing some hymns, and perhaps saying a few Amens.