‘Compline explained’
Good morning,
I was reading a new book by Rowan Williams this morning, The Way of St Benedict, in which he describes monastic services of worship and silence as “moments of recollection and rooting.” The phrase leapt out at me, as if illuminated on the page. Moments of recollection and rooting are what happen in worship, what we seek in coming together to pray, sing, hear scripture, think and reflect, and take inspiration for the rest of the day. Such moments are usually found in term-time in the University Chapels in Morning Prayer, Evensong, Compline, the University Service on Sundays, and in the prayer, quiet and meditation events led by our faith societies and honorary chaplains.
Although this is the spring vacation, it is Thursday, and so we plan to have a service of Compline tonight as in Thursdays in term-time. It will come from the Chaplain’s house, at 10 pm this evening. I will send out a separate email with the link to it so that you can take part from your own home by computer. We are having a practice this morning among the Chaplaincy staff to get the hang of the technology! Here is an image of the south door of St Leonard’s Chapel which people may rarely pause to see:
I thought I would say a little more about Compline. Our printed order of service says the following: “The Office of Compline is the final service of the day. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the sixth century by St Benedict in his Rule. Compline tends to be a contemplative Office that emphasizes spiritual peace. In many 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 the morning service the next day.”
I had never attended a service of Compline until I began as Chaplain in 2011. From the very first time, I loved it. St Leonard’s Chapel is lit only by candlelight. The red-gowned St Leonard’s Chapel Choir are seated quietly. The congregation gathers. The organ plays softly. The Douglas Gifford Scholar – a student – rises, followed by the unauditioned choir mainly of students but also of staff. They sing an introit. Then the service continues, unhurried, largely the same week by week. The chaplain leads in prayer, with the congregation responding in turn. There are two hymns – one for the season, and the other Before the ending of the day. The choir sing an evening psalm, the Nunc Dimittis (Simeon’s words after encountering the infant Jesus), and an anthem. After three minutes of silence, the congregation leaves, some observing silence, some enjoying conversation.
There is much that people love in Compline – rest after work (or before – some students then head to the library to meet that deadline), quiet after noise, calm in a time of anxiety; the rhythm of each service, and the rhythm of the repeated service week after week; the flickering candlelight; the sense, in sitting together in silence, that we are not alone.
And so we will hold our service of Compline tonight. I have attached a pdf of the order of service. Don’t worry if the formatting is a little awry – we’ve taken out pagination and that affects formatting. But if you have this open, or even print it, you will be able to take part.
Here is a lovely image taken by Peter Adamson of a service of Compline from three years ago. You may even recognise yourself there.
If you want to take part, look out for that other email later. I look forward to moments of recollection and rooting tonight.
Yours,
Donald.