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COMPLINE

(Order CD of Compline Service)

Compline, or night prayer, is a Christian service of worship dating back to monastic life in the Middle Ages.  It is the last of the daily offices of worship held every three hours which include Matins (midnight), Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext (noon), None, Vespers, and Compline (9:00p.m.). 

(Read more about Compline at Christ Church in the June 18, 2005 article from The Savannah Morning News, "Singing Good Night to God".)

 
Compline, from the word 'completion', is sung in its entirety by the members of the Compline Choir as their offering to the Lord to commemorate the day's end.  In keeping with the earliest practices of the monastic communities, Compline is offered when the work of the day is completed, and the quietness of evening settles over the hearts and minds of those who have come together in thankfulness for the blessings of the day which has passed and in anticipation of God's gift of a new day. 

As it has for centuries, Compline invokes a sense of protection and peace for the night that is to come and thanks for safe passage through the day that has past.  Fear of the night and concern for our mortality are integral parts of the texts-"your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."  

Characteristic of Monastic offices, Compline consists of psalms, short passages from scripture (chapters), an office hymn, a canticle (Nunc Dimittis), a litany, collects, and additional prayers.   The Office of Compline originated and developed in southern Europe and the Middle East during the first six hundred years of Christianity.  At first, Compline was offered primarily by the monastic communities, but as Christian
influence spread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean area, the office found a place in local liturgical settings.  By the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, a large number of breviaries-books which contained the texts and music of the offices-were available for recitation.

As director of the Compline Choir  I am often asked why people come to attend a service in which they participate only through listening and silent prayer.  I believe it is because a need is being met that isn't being met otherwise.  Alan Watts identified this need when he wrote, "It simply amazes me that for so many generations the spiritual discipline of millions of ordinary Christians has never, except by chance, involved interior or mystical silence."  Silence and time for interior reflection are often identified as the most powerful and moving characteristics of the Compline service. 

In this light, your participation as a congregation is not outward, but inward.  It is not vocal, but spiritual.  In the words of our rector, "The Office of Compline is not a performance for people to come and hear, it is a transformance of the individual worshipper."  Admittedly, the Compline service exists within the context of a society in general and the Christian Church in particular that have become increasingly secularized.  The singing of Compline, however, has attempted to speak to other values.  With its ministry directed toward spiritual values that nurture the soul, the choir is engaged in a radical (from the Latin "radix", meaning root; getting to the root of things) activity.  In a real sense, we are called to act contrary to the icons of contemporary society-money, power, material comfort.  These values cannot sustain or nourish the soul.  The Rev. Ralph Carskadden has said it eloquently:

If we are to grasp the message of the gospels;
if we are to understand the teachings of Jesus;
if we are to be faithful disciples,
then we must realize what we are called to be:
called to act counter to the prevailing
culture which surrounds us.

To express musically our concern for the nurture and care of the soul is what we of the Compline Choir are about.  We recognize and respond to the hunger for the transcendent presence of God in our lives.  It is to this end that the members of the choir commit to the
weekly discipline of prayer singing Compline and that we ask you to engage with us spiritually to the presence of God.
 
Like the community around it, the Compline Choir is ecumenical in its makeup.  The singers comprising the choir are choir members and music directors from churches throughout the Savannah area. We welcome your participation in worshipping the Living God through listening, prayer, and inner reflection.  (Prayer leaders will be available at the altar rail following the service for those who need or desire individual prayer.  We also invite you to attend Sunday morning worship with us at 8:00 or 10:30a.m.) 

May God grant you a safe night's end and a peaceful rest.

Mark K. Williams-Parish Musician (Christ Church, Savannah) 
<mwilliams@christchurchsavannah.org>