Christ is risen today, but for many of us, we still feel as if we are in a long Lent of sorts. Accordingly, I offer this compline for your personal use, if it might help you in this season. Outside of Lent, however, we should be keen to remind ourselves that Christ is risen and that all manner of things shall be well. Pax Christi.
An Order For Lenten Compline
Officiant: O Lord of all creation, of the highest heavens and of the deepest ravines of hell, grant us a quiet night and a perfect end. Amen.
Officiant: Let us confess our sins to God.
All confess their sins to God, either aloud or in silence.
All: Lord God, may our death be one with yours. Harrow our hearts and let our feet be sure on our way into the darkness. If we would be lost to the abyss, rescue us. Forgive us, Lord, so that our rising may also be one with yours. Amen.
Officiant: May we rest in hope of a new day, if God is merciful to forgive us. Amen.
People: Let us mourn.
Silence may be kept, as may open mourning. Now is a good time to reflect on the brokenness of our world.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, who was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
One or more of the following readings may be sung or read:
- “Why give light to the wretched and life to the deeply embittered, who wait for death in vain, dig for it more than for treasure, who rejoice at the tomb, are glad when they find the grave?—To a man whose way is hidden, and God has hedged him about. For before my bread my moaning comes, and my roar pours out like water. For I feared a thing—it befell me, what I dreaded came upon me. I was not quiet, I was not still, I had no repose, and trouble came.” Job 3:20-26
- “Would there were an arbiter between us, who could lay his hand on us both, who could take from me His rod, and His terror would not confound me. I would speak, and I will not fear Him, for that is not the way I am. My whole being loathes my life. Let me give vent to my lament. Let me speak when my being is bitter. I shall say to God: Do not convict me. Inform me why You accuse me.” Job 9:33-10:2
- “How she sits alone, the city once great with people. She has become like the widow. Great among nations, mistress among provinces, reduced to forced labor. She weeps on through the night, and her tears are on her cheek. She has no consoler from all her lovers. All her friends have betrayed her, have become enemies to her.” Lamentations 1:1-2
- “But You, O Lord, for all time are enthroned, Your throne for all generations! Why should You forget us forever, forsake us for endless years? Bring us back to You, Lord, that we come back, renew our days as of old. For indeed You have rejected us, You have been grievously furious with us.” Lamentations 5:19-22
- “I have seen all the deeds that are done under the sun, and, look, all is mere breath, and herding the wind. The crooked cannot turn straight nor can the lack be made good.” – Ecclesiastes 1:14-15
- “And recall your Creator in the days of your prime, until the days of evil come, and the years arrive, when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them.’ Until the sun goes dark, and the light and the moon and the stars, and the clouds come back after the rain.” – Ecclesiastes 12:1-2
- “Deep unto deep calls out at the sound of Your channels. All Your breakers and waves have surged over me. By day the Lord ordains His kindness and by night His song is with me—prayer to the God of my life. I would say to the God my Rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me? Why in gloom do I go, hard-pressed by the foe? With murder in my bones, my enemies revile me when they say to me all day long, ‘Where is you God?’ How bent, my being, for yet will I acclaim Him, His rescuing presence and my God.” Psalm 42:8-12
- “Grant me justice, O God, take up my case against a faithless nation, from a man of deceit and wrong free me. For You, O God, my stronghold, why should You neglect me? Why should I go in gloom, pressed by the foe? Send forth Your light and Your truth. It is they that will guide me. They will bring me to You holy mountain And to Your dwelling place. And let me come to God’s altar, to God, my keenest joy. And let me acclaim You with the lyre, O God, my God. How bent, my being, how you moan for me! Hope in God, for yet will I acclaim Him, His rescuing presence and my God.” Psalm 43
Officiant: “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.’” (Revelation 14:13a)
People: “’Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.’” (Revelation 14:13b)
Officiant: May God come again to judge the living.
People: Descend with us, Lord.
Officiant: May God come again to judge the dead.
People: Descend with us, Lord.
Officiant: May God be to us the life of the world to come.
People: Descend to us, Lord.
Officiant: Kyrie eleison.
People: Lord have mercy.
All: Christ have mercy.
People: Christ have mercy on our world. Rescue us from the claws of Satan.
All: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
All: Our Father, 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. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory now and forever. Amen.
Officiant says one of the following Collects:
Be our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for this love of your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Look down, O Lord, from your heavenly throne, and illumine this night with your celestial brightness; that by night as by day your people may glorify your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Visit this place, O Lord, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy; let your holy angels dwell with us to preserve us in peace; and let your blessing be upon us always; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Collect for Pandemics
Heal and protect us, O Lord, from this imminent calamity. Strengthen our immune systems and give us the spiritual fortitude to endure this pandemic. May you be nearest to us when we cannot be near to each other. Bless those who fight this virus and all others, whether as patients, medical professionals, or researchers. May the sacrifice of Christ heal our bodies and our world this night. Amen.
People: Protect us from beneath, Lord. May your death not be in vain. Heal the wounds of our world and the ills of our souls, wherever you may be. If you speak, speak to us in our pain. If you are silent, give us faith to rest in peace.
Officiant reads St. Christina Rossetti’s “Mid-Lent”:
Is any grieved or tired? Yea, by God’s Will:
Surely God’s Will alone is good and best.
O weary man, in weariness take rest,
O hungry man, by hunger feast thy fill.
Discern thy good beneath a mask of ill,
Or build of loneliness thy secret nest:
At noon take heart, being mindful of the west,
At night wake hope, for dawn advances still.
At night wake hope. Poor soul, in such sore need
Of wakening and of girding up anew,
Hast thou that hope which fainting doth pursue?
No saint but hath pursued and hath been faint;
Bid love wake hope, for both thy steps shall speed,
Still faint yet still pursuing, O thou saint.
People: Protect us from beneath, Lord. May your death not be in vain. Heal the wounds of our world and the ills of our souls, wherever you may be. If you speak, speak to us in our pain. If you are silent, give us faith to rest in peace.
People conclude: Almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless us and keep us. Amen.
