Compline

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For other uses, see Compline (disambiguation).

Book of hours open at compline (Eisbergen Monastery in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)

Compline (/ˈkɒmplɪn/ KOM-plin), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer liturgy (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times.

The English word is derived from the Latin completorium, as compline is the completion of the waking day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century in the Rule of Saint Benedict (Regula Benedicti; hereafter, RB), in Chapters 16,[1] 17,[2] 18,[3] and 42,[4] and he uses the verb compleo to signify compline: "Omnes ergo in unum positi compleant" ("All having assembled in one place, let them say compline"); "et exeuntes a completorio" ("and, after going out from compline")… (RB, Chap. 42).

Compline liturgies are a part of

Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and certain other Christian liturgical
traditions.

In

monasteries it is the custom to begin the "Great Silence" after compline, during which the whole community, including guests, observes silence throughout the night until after the Terce the next day.[5] Compline comprises the final office in the Liturgy of the Hours
.

Historical development

This section incorporates information from the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1917. References to psalms follow the numbering system of the Septuagint, as said in the Latin of the Vulgate.

From the time of the

early Church, the practice of seven fixed prayer times has been taught; in Apostolic Tradition, Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray seven times a day "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion."[6][7][8][9]

The origin of compline has given rise to considerable discussion among liturgists. In the past, general opinion ascribed the origin of this liturgical hour to

St. Pachomius, which would mean that it originated still earlier in the 4th century.[10]

The

St. Benedict did for the West, there existed as early as the days of St. Cyprian and Clement of Alexandria the custom of reciting a prayer before sleep, and that this might be taken as the original source of compline.[10]

Compline in the Roman Rite

Responsory of the compline, In manus tuas, Domine

It is generally thought that the Benedictine form of compline is the earliest western order, although some scholars, such as Plaine, have maintained that the hour of compline as found in the

Roman Church. The original form of the Benedictine Office, lacking even an antiphon for the psalms, is much simpler than its Roman counterpart, resembling more closely the Minor Hours of the day.[10]

Saint Benedict first gave the Office the basic structure by which it has come to be celebrated in the West: three

Kyrie eleison, the benediction
, and the dismissal (RB, Chaps. 17 and 18).

The

psalmody. A fourth psalm was added, In te Domine speravi (Psalm 30 in Vulgate
). And perhaps at a fairly late date was added the solemn introduction of a benediction with a reading (based perhaps on the spiritual reading which, in the Rule of St. Benedict, precedes compline: RB, Chap. 42), and the confession and absolution of faults. This is absent from parallel forms, such as that of Sarum.

The distinctive character and greater solemnity of the Roman form of compline comes from the responsory, In manus tuas, Domine ("Into Thy hands, O Lord"), with the evangelical

Nunc Dimittis and its anthem, which is particularly characteristic.[11]

The hour of compline, such as it appeared in the

psalmody, with its usual accompaniment of antiphons, the hymn, the capitulum, the response, the Nunc dimittis, the prayer, and the benediction
.

By way of liturgical variety, the liturgy of initium noctis may also be studied in the Celtic Liturgy, such as it is read in the Antiphonary of Bangor, its plan being set forth by Warren and by Bishop (see Bibliography, below).

Compline
A service of compline sung by the choir of
Trinity Church, Boston
in 2016;

Introit:

Abendlied by Josef Rheinberger
;

Nunc dimittis: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In the breviary of 1974

Blessed Virgin Mary (Salve Regina, etc.) is an essential part of the Office.[12]

Lutheran usage

The office of Compline (along with the other daily offices) is included in the various Lutheran hymnals, books of worship and prayer books, such as the Lutheran Service Book and For All the Saints: A Prayer Book for and by the Church. In some Lutheran Churches, compline may be conducted by a layperson with a slight modification to the liturgy.[13] In the Lutheran Service Book, used by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, Compline consists of opening versicles from Psalm 92, confession of sins, psalmody, an office hymn, readings from scripture, responsory, prayer (concluded with the Lord's Prayer), the Nunc Dimittis, and benediction.

Anglican usage

Anglican Service Book
(1991)

In the

Morning Prayer
and Evening Prayer, compline may be led by a layperson, quite similar to Lutheran use.

Compline in Byzantine usage

St Nazianz
, Wisconsin, US

Compline is called literally, the after-supper (

τὸ) Ἀπόδειπνον [apóðipnon], Slavonic
повечеріе, Povecheriye), has two distinct forms which are quite different in length Small Compline and Great Compline.

Both forms include a

stichera prescribed for vespers
.

The Office always ends with a mutual asking of forgiveness. In some traditions, most notably among the

icons
in the church, and receive the priest's blessing.

Small Compline

Small compline is prescribed for most nights of the year. It is presided over by a single priest without a deacon.

The liturgy is composed of three Psalms (50, 69, 142), the

litany
.

Before an all-night vigil, compline in the Greek tradition precedes great vespers, being read during the great incensing, while in Russian tradition it simply follows little vespers.

Great Compline

Great Compline is a penitential office which is served on the following occasions:

Unlike Small Compline, Great Compline has portions of the liturgy which are chanted by the Choir

Saint Andrew of Crete
is divided into four portions and read on Monday through Thursday nights.

Due to the penitential nature of Great Compline, it is not uncommon for the priest to hear Confession during the liturgy.

Great Compline is composed of three sections, each beginning with the call to prayer, "O come, let us worship…":

First Part

Psalms
St. Basil the Great
.

Second Part

Psalms 50, 101, and the Prayer of Manasses; the Trisagion, and Troparia of Repentance,[23] Kyrie eleison (40 times), "More honorable than the cherubim…" and the Prayer of St. Mardarius.

Third Part

Psalms 69, 142, and the Small Doxology;[24] then the Canon followed by Axion Estin, the Trisagion, the hymn "O Lord of Hosts, be with us…", Kyrie eleison (40 times), the Prayer of the Hours, "More honorable than the cherubim…", the Prayer of St. Ephraim, Trisagion (this depends on tradition, it is not always recited here[citation needed]), the Supplicatory Prayer of Paul the Monk, and the Prayer to Jesus Christ of Antiochus the Monk.[17] Then the mutual forgiveness. Instead of the normal final blessing by the priest, all prostrate themselves while the priest reads a special intercessory prayer. Then the litany and the veneration of icons and relics.

Oriental Christian usages

The Agpeya and Shehimo are breviaries used in Oriental Christianity to pray the canonical hours at seven fixed times of the day in the eastward direction.[25]

Syriac Orthodox Church, Indian Orthodox Church, and Mar Thoma Syrian Church

In the

Oriental Protestant denomination), the office of Compline is also known as Soutoro and is prayed at 9 pm using the Shehimo breviary.[26][25]

Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria

In the

Oriental Orthodox denomination, the Compline is prayed at 9 pm using the Agpeya breviary before retiring.[27][28]

Armenian Liturgy: Hours of Peace and Rest

There are two offices in the daily worship of the Armenian Apostolic Church which are recited between sundown and sleep: the Peace Hour and the Rest Hour.[29] These are two distinct liturgies of communal worship. It is the usage in some localities to combine these two liturgies, with abbreviations, into a single liturgy.

The Peace Hour

The Peace Hour (Armenian: Խաղաղական Ժամ khaghaghakan zham) is the office associated with compline in other Christian liturgies.

In the Armenian Book of Hours, or Zhamagirk`, it is stated that the Peace Hour commemorates the Spirit of God, but also the Word of God, “when he was laid in the tomb and descended into Hades, and brought peace to the spirits.”

Outline of the Peace Hour

If the Song of Steps is recited: Blessed is our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Father … Amen.; Psalm 34:1–7: I have blessed the Lord at all times (awrhnets`its` zTēr)…; Glory to the Father (Always with Now and always … Amen.; And again in peace let us pray to the Lord…; Blessing and glory to the Father … Amen.; Song of Steps: Psalm 120:1–3: In my distress I cried (I neghout`ean imoum)…; Glory to the Father…

If the Song of Steps is not said: Blessed is our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our father … Amen; Psalm 88:1–2 God of my salvation (Astouats p`kkout`ean imoy)…; Glory to the Father…; And again in peace let us pray to the Lord …; Blessing and glory to the Father … Amen.; Peace with all.

In either case the liturgy continues here: Psalms 4, 6, 13, 16, 43, 70, 86:16–17; Glory to the Father…; Song: Vouchsafe unto us (Shnorhea mez)…; Glory to the Father…; Acclamation: At the approach of darkness (I merdzenal erekoyis)…; Proclamation: And again in peace … Let us give thanks to the Lord (Gohats`arouk` zTearnē)…; Prayer: Beneficent Lord (Tēr Barerar)…; Psalm 27 The Lord is my light (Tēr loys im)…; Glory to the Father…; Song: Look down with love (Nayats` sirov)…; Acclamation: Lord, do not turn your face (Tēr mi dartzouts`aner)…; Proclamation: And again in peace … Let us beseech almighty God (Aghach`ests`ouk` zamenakal)…; Prayer: Bestowing with grace (Shnorhatou bareats`)…

On non-fasting days the liturgy ends here with: Blessed is our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our father … Amen.

On fasting days continue here: Psalm 119; Glory to the Father–; Hymn: We entreat you (I k`ez hayts`emk`)…

During the Great Fast: Evening Chant (varies); Acclamation: To the spirits at rest (Hogvovn hangouts`elots`)…; Proclamation: And again in peace … For the repose of the souls (Vasn hangouts`eal)…; Lord, have mercy (thrice); Prayer: Christ, Son of God (K`ristos Ordi Astoutsoy)…; Blessed is our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our father… Amen.”

The Rest Hour

The Rest Hour (Armenian: Հանգստեան Ժամ hangstean zham) is celebrated after the Peace Hour, and is the last of the offices of the day. It may be considered communal worship before sleep. It bears some resemblance in content to compline in the Roman Rite.

In the Armenian Book of Hours it is stated in many manuscripts that the Rest Hour commemorates God the Father, “that he protect us through the protecting arm of the Onlybegotten in the darkness of night.”

Outline of the Rest Hour: Blessed is our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Father … Amen.; Psalm 43:3–5: Lord, send your light and your truth (Arak`ea Tēr)…; Glory to the Father…; And again in peace let us pray to the Lord …; Blessing and glory to the Father … Amen.; Psalms 119:41–56, 119:113–120, 119:169–176, 91, 123, 54, Daniel 3:29–34, Luke 2:29–32, Psalms 142:7, 86:16–17, 138:7–8, Luke 1:46–55; Glory to the Father…; Acclamation: My soul into your hands (Andzn im I tzers k`o)…; Proclamation: And again in peace … Let us beseech almighty God (Aghach`ests`ouk` zamenakaln)…; Prayer: Lord our God (Tēr Astouats mer)…

Ending: Psalm 4; Pre-gospel sequence; Gospel: John 12:24ff; Glory to you, our God; Proclamation: By the holy Cross (Sourb khach`ivs…)…; Prayer: Protect us (Pahpannea zmez)…; Blessed is our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Father … Amen.

Ending during Fasts: Acclamation: We fall down before you (Ankanimk` araji k`o)…; Meditation Twelve of St. Gregory of Narek; Meditation 94 of St. Gregory of Narek; Meditation 41 of St. Gregory of Narek; Prayer: In faith I confess (Havatov khostovanim)… by St. Nerses the Graceful; Acclamation: Through your holy spotless and virgin mother (Vasn srbouhvoy)…; Proclamation: Holy Birthgiver of God (Sourb zAstouatsatsinn), ,; Prayer: Accept, Lord (Unkal, Tēr)…; Blessed is our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our Father … Amen.

Notes

  1. ^ [1] Archived January 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ [2] Archived January 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ [3] Archived January 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ [4] Archived January 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ISBN 9780819233264
    .
  6. ISBN 978-1-4982-9023-4
    . Peterson quotes a passage from the Acts of Hipparchus and Philotheus: "In Hipparchus's house there was a specially decorated room and a cross was painted on the east wall of it. There before the image of the cross, they used to pray seven times a day … with their faces turned to the east." It is easy to see the importance of this passage when you compare it with what Origen says. The custom of turning towards the rising sun when praying had been replaced by the habit of turning towards the east wall. This we find in Origen. From the other passage we see that a cross had been painted on the wall to show which was the east. Hence the origin of the practice of hanging crucifixes on the walls of the private rooms in Christian houses. We know too that signs were put up in the Jewish synagogues to show the direction of Jerusalem, because the Jews turned that way when they said their prayers. The question of the proper way to face for prayer has always been of great importance in the East. It is worth remembering that Mohammedans pray with their faces turned towards Mecca and that one reason for the condemnation of Al Hallaj, the Mohammedan martyr, was that he refused to conform to this practice.
  7. ISBN 978-1-101-16042-8
    . Hippolytus in the Apostolic Tradition directed that Christians should pray seven times a day – on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight, and also, if at home, at the third, sixth and ninth hours of the day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion. Prayers at the third, sixth, and ninth hours are similarly mentioned by Tertullian, Cyprian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen, and must have been very widely practised. These prayers were commonly associated with private Bible reading in the family.
  8. ISBN 978-0-521-01746-6
    . Clement of Alexandria noted that "some fix hours for prayer, such as the third, sixth and ninth" (Stromata 7:7). Tertullian commends these hours, because of their importance (see below) in the New Testament and because their number recalls the Trinity (De Oratione 25). These hours indeed appear as designated for prayer from the earliest days of the church. Peter prayed at the sixth hour, i.e. at noon (Acts 10:9). The ninth hour is called the "hour of prayer" (Acts 3:1). This was the hour when Cornelius prayed even as a "God-fearer" attached to the Jewish community, i.e. before his conversion to Christianity. it was also the hour of Jesus' final prayer (Matt. 27:46, Mark 15:34, Luke 22:44–46).
  9. ISBN 978-0-567-16561-9
    . Not only the content of early Christian prayer was rooted in Jewish tradition; its daily structure too initially followed a Jewish pattern, with prayer times in the early morning, at noon and in the evening. Later (in the course of the second century), this pattern combined with another one; namely prayer times in the evening, at midnight and in the morning. As a result seven 'hours of prayer' emerged, which later became the monastic 'hours' and are still treated as 'standard' prayer times in many churches today. They are roughly equivalent to midnight, 6 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Prayer positions included prostration, kneeling and standing. … Crosses made of wood or stone, or painted on walls or laid out as mosaics, were also in use, at first not directly as objections of veneration but in order to 'orientate' the direction of prayer (i.e. towards the east, Latin oriens).
  10. ^ a b c "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Compline". www.newadvent.org.
  11. ^ The Catholic Encyclopedia says: "It would be difficult to understand why St. Benedict, whose liturgical taste favoured solemnity in the Office, would have sacrificed these elements—especially the evangelical canticle—if, as Plaine theorizes, his form of the Office were a later development."
  12. ^ General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours Archived July 5, 2019, at the Wayback Machine #92
  13. OCLC 225873337
    .
  14. ^ "2004 Texts". anglican.org.
  15. ^ https://churchinwales.contentfiles.net/media/documents/Gweddi_Ddyddiol_-_Daily_Prayer2009.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  16. ^ Certain canons call for Axion Estin to be replaced by the Irmos of the Ninth Ode.
  17. ^ a b Here follow the Evening Prayers in places where they are said at compline.
  18. Saint Andrew of Crete
    is read the evening before, and so Small Compline is appointed for that Wednesday night.
  19. ^ Among the Greeks, Small Compline is served on every Friday evening of Great Lent; the Russians, however, serve Great Compline on Fridays, with some modifications (see n. 7, below). On Friday night of the Fifth Week of Great Lent, the Akathist to the Theotokos is solemnly chanted, so Small Compline on that night is either read privately or suppressed.
  20. ^ In some places, Great Compline is only served on the first night of each of the Lesser Fasts.
  21. ^ Except on Friday night, when most of these parts are read. There are also fewer prostrations on Friday night.
  22. ^ On Monday through Thursday of the First Week of Great Lent, the service begins with Psalm 69, followed by the appropriate section of the Great Canon (in which case, Psalm 69 is omitted in the Third Part).
  23. ^ Or, if it is the eve of a Great Feast, the Kontakion of the day.
  24. Litia
    .
  25. ^ a b Richards, William Joseph (1908). The Indian Christians of St. Thomas: Otherwise Called the Syrian Christians of Malabar: a Sketch of Their History and an Account of Their Present Condition as Well as a Discussion of the Legend of St. Thomas. Bemrose. p. 98.
  26. ^ "My Life in Heaven & on Earth" (PDF). St. Thomas Malankara Orthodox Church. p. 31. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  27. ^ "Coptic Church Prayers". St. Abanoub Coptic Orthodox Church. 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  28. ^ The Agpeya. St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church. pp. 5, 33, 49, 65, 80, 91, 130.
  29. ^ "The Armenian Church - Մայր Աթոռ Սուրբ Էջմիածին". www.armenianchurch.org.

References

  • Bäumer, Histoire du Bréviaire, tr. Biron, I, 135, 147–149 et passim
  • Batiffol, Histoire du bréviaire romain, 35
  • Besse, Les Moines d'Orient antérieurs au concile de Chalcédoine (Paris, 1900), 333
  • Bishop, A Service Book of the Seventh Century in The Church Quarterly Review (January, 1894), XXXVII, 347
  • Butler, The Text of St. Benedict's Rule, in Downside Review, XVII, 223
  • Bresard, Luc. Monastic Spirituality. Three vols. (Stanbrook Abbey, Worcester: A.I.M., 1996)
  • Cabrol, Le Livre de la Prière antique, 224
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Complin". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  • Ladeuze, Etude sur le cénobitisme pakhomien pendant le IVe siècle et la première moitié du Ve (Louvain, 1898), 288
  • Pargoire, Prime et complies in Rev. d'hist. et de littér. relig. (1898), III, 281–288, 456–467
  • Pargoire and Pétridès in Dict. d'arch. et de liturgie, s. v. Apodeipnon, I, 2579–2589
  • Plaine, La Génèse historique des Heures in Rev. Anglo-romaine, I, 593
  • —Idem, "De officii seu cursus Romani origine" in Studien u. Mittheilungen (1899), X, 364–397
  • Vandepitte, Saint Basile et l'origine de complies in Rev. Augustinienne (1903), II, 258–264
  • Warren, The Antiphonary of Bangor: an Early Irish MS. (a complete facsimile in collotype, with a transcription, London, 1893)
  • —Idem, Liturgy and Ritual of the Keltic Church (Oxford, 1881)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Compline.

Roman Rite

Liturgy of the Hours

Eastern Orthodox

Anglican and Protestant

Sung compline

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