8:30pm – Compline / Night Prayers (Join here.) Phone number: +1-669-900-6833 Meeting ID: 806-304-493 Follow along starting at BCP, 127. COMPLINE: Sacred Prayers to Close the Day – Monday to Saturday Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace. (Compline antiphon)
Compline is an ancient monastic service, perhaps dating back as far as the fourth century, that provides a clear passage from the events of the day to the rest of night. It’s a simple service of prayers, psalms and scripture; it’s also not long, generally lasting only about ten minutes.
Here at St. Luke’s, we started offering Compline services on Zoom as part of our move to establish a remote church community, and we’ve been doing it Monday through Saturday evenings at 8:30pm ever since. Each evening’s service follows the same order of worship, but each member of the Compline team adds an individual touch as well.
For frequent attendees, the service has become an important daily ritual for helping to get through these unsettling times. It’s a chance to put the craziness of the day behind us and approach the night with a refreshed and open spirit. It’s also a chance to pray together in community, something that is all too rare in these quarantined days.
One member of our Compline team described the evening service as “an appointment with God.” We invite you to consider whether this is an appointment that might ease your own passage into rest and to join us as we begin again with these words: The Lord Almighty grant us a peaceful night and a perfect end. Amen.
