Monday Housekeeping – Compline –

Monday Housekeeping – Daily life at Saint Augustine’s House –

Compline (pronounced: KOM-plin) is sung just before going to bed. It begins at 8.30p and lasts about 15 minutes. Of all the offices Compline varies the least through the seasons and holy days; it remains a quiet, constant, gentle transition to the night. This office opens with a confession and absolution, a hymn, a Psalm or two and a short lesson and responsory. The canticle “Nunc Dimittis” – The Canticle of Simeon – “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace” is then sung. The Antiphon to the canticle, and the responsory, do not change and the traditional tones for these are some of the most memorable used in any of the offices. Compline is a fitting end to the day, and is one of the seven offices that can adapt well to use in the home.

St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, has offered a weekly Sunday night Compline service for many years and has gathered national attention for its phenomenal attendance. Week after week, year after year, the contemplative office draws a full house including many young people as the Compline Choir sings a somewhat elaborate version of the monastic office. These are broadcast live in Seattle, and on the web, on KING-FM, and are also available as podcasts. http://www.king.org/