The service begins with a Land Acknowledgement, followed by a processional.
READER: The Compline Choir, a shared ministry of The Peter R. Hallock Institute, Saint Mark’s Cathedral, and the Diocese of Olympia, acknowledges that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of all the Coast Salish tribes.
READER: The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.
CHOIR: Amen.
READER: Beloved in Christ, be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, steadfast in the faith. [I Peter 5: 8, 9a]
READER: But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
CHOIR: Thanks be to God.
The following is chanted.
CANTOR: O God, make speed to save us;
CHOIR: O Lord, make haste to help us.
CANTOR: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
CHOIR: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
CANTOR: Praise ye the Lord;
CHOIR: The Lord’s name be praiséd.
The READER announces the Psalm to be sung. The appointed psalms for Compline are Psalm 4 (Cum invocarem), Psalm 31:1-6 (In te, Domine, speravi), Psalm 91 (Qui habitat), and Psalm 134 (Ecce nunc). Other psalms may be used as appropriate to the church year. Many of the psalm settings sung in the service have been composed by Peter Hallock or Jason Anderson.
The READER speaks the following lesson.
In the beginning there was the Word; the Word was in God’s presence, and the Word was God. The Word was present to God from the beginning. Through the Word all things came into being, and apart from the Word, nothing came into being that has come into being. In the Word was life, and that life was humanity’s light—a Light that shines in the darkness, a Light that the darkness has never overtaken. [John 1:1-5 (The Inclusive Bible)]
CHOIR: Thanks be to God.
The following Respond is chanted:
CANTOR: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
CHOIR: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
CANTOR: For thou hast redeeméd me, O Lord, thou God of truth;
CHOIR: I commend my spirit.
CANTOR: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
CHOIR: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
The READER announces the hymn to be sung. The hymn appointed for Compline is Te lucis ante terminum (Before the ending of the day). Other hymns may be sung as appropriate to the church year.
The following is chanted:
CANTOR: Keep me as the apple of an eye;
CHOIR: Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.
A metrical setting of the Nunc dimittis (from Luke 2:29-32, without Gloria Patri) by Peter R. Hallock is sung. The text is by James Quinn, and is found in New Hymns for All Seasons© 1969 Geoffrey Chapman, Ltd. Used by permission. An antiphon precedes and follows it:
ANTIPHON: Alleluia. The Word was made flesh, alleluia, and dwelt among us. Alleluia, alleluia.
Lord, let your servant part in peace, your word is now fulfilled.
These eyes have seen salvation’s dawn, this Child so long foretold.
This is the Savior of our all, the Gentile’s promised Light,
God’s dwelling in our midst, the joy of Israel.
All glory to the Father be, all glory to the Son,
All glory, Holy Ghost, to thee, while endless ages run.
The Apostles Creed is intoned by the choir. The Assembly rises.
CANTOR: I believe in God,
CHOIR: the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The congregation is seated. The Kyrie is chanted:
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy upon us.
CHOIR: Christ, have mercy upon us.
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy upon us.
The Lord’s Prayer and the following versicles and responses are intoned:
CANTOR: Our Father,
CHOIR: who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
CANTOR: Blessed art thou, Lord God of our fathers;
CHOIR: To be praised and glorified above all for ever.
CANTOR: Let us bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost;
CHOIR: Let us praise and magnify him for ever.
CANTOR: Blessed art thou, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven;
CHOIR: To be praised and glorified above all for ever.
CANTOR: The Almighty and merciful Lord guard us and give us his blessing.
CHOIR: Amen.
The Confession and Absolution are spoken:
READER: The Sun of Righteousness has dawned with healing in his wings. Let us come to the light of Christ, confessing our sins in penitence and faith.
CHOIR: We confess to God Almighty, the Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost, that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, through our own grievous fault. Wherefore we pray God to have mercy upon us.
CHOIR: Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us all our sins and deliver us from all evil, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and bring us to life everlasting. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
READER: May the almighty and merciful Lord grant unto us pardon and remission of all our sins, time for amendment of life, and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit.
CHOIR: Amen.
The following versicles and responses are chanted:
CANTOR: Wilt thou not turn again and quicken us;
CHOIR: That thy people may rejoice in thee?
CANTOR: O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us;
CHOIR: And grant us thy salvation.
CANTOR: Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this night without sin;
CHOIR: O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
CANTOR: O Lord, hear our prayer;
CHOIR: And let our cry come unto thee.
CANTOR: Let us pray.
At least three, but not more than five, prayers (or collects) are intoned by the CANTOR. The first collect is proper to the Sunday of Advent. Other collects offered address the needs and concerns of the choir or local or global community. One or both of the following collects appointed for Compline are offered:
O God, who didst wonderfully create, and yet more wonderfully restore, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, thy Son Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Or
We give thee thanks, O God, for the gift to the world of our Redeemer; as we sing thy glory at the close of this day, so may we know Christ’s presence in our hearts, who is our Savior and our Lord, now and for ever.
CHOIR: Amen.
The READER announces the anthem(s) to be sung.
The CHOIR sings the final versicles and responses, using a setting composed by Peter Hallock in 1956, the year of the Compline Choir’s founding:
CANTOR: We will lay us down in peace and take our rest:
CHOIR: For it is thou, Lord, only that makest us to dwell in safety.
CANTOR: The Lord be with you:
CHOIR: And with thy spirit.
CANTOR: Let us bless the Lord:
CHOIR: Thanks be to God.
The closing blessing is spoken:
READER: May the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, the perseverance of the magi, the obedience of Joseph and Mary, and the peace of the Christ-child be ours this Christmas; and may the almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, bless and preserve us.
CHOIR: Amen.