Compline

Compline (/ˈkɒmplɪn/ KOM-plin; also Complin, Night Prayer, Prayers at the End of the Day) is the final church service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. 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 6th century by St. Benedict in his Rule (Regula Benedicti; hereafter, RB), in Chapters 16, 17, 18, and 42, and he even uses the verb complere to signify Compline: "Omnes ergo in unum positi compleant" ("All having assembled in one place, let them say Compline"); "et exuentes a completorio" ("and, after going out from Compline...") (RB, Chap. 42).

Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and certain other Christian denominations with liturgical traditions prescribe Compline services. 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.

Gloria Patri

Gloria Patri, also known as the Gloria, Glory Be to the Father or, colloquially, the Glory Be, is a doxology, a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian liturgies. It is also referred to as the Minor Doxology (Doxologia Minor) or Lesser Doxology, to distinguish it from the Greater Doxology, the Gloria in Excelsis Deo.

The earliest Christian doxologies are addressed to God the Father alone, or to Him "through" (διὰ) the Son, or to the Father and the Holy Spirit with( (μετά) the Son, or to the Son with (σύν) the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The Trinitarian doxology addressed in parallel fashion to all three persons of the Trinity, joined by and (καί), as in the form of baptism, Matthew 28:19, became universal in Nicaean Christianity, which became dominant with the Edict of Thessalonica of 380.

Greek version

The Greek wording is as follows:

The second part is occasionally slightly modified and other verses are sometimes introduced between the two halves.

Syriac version

According to Worship Music: A Concise Dictionary, the lesser doxology is of Syrian origin.

Night Prayer

Night Prayer may refer to:

Barry Rose

Barry Michael Rose OBE (born 24 May 1934) is a choir trainer and organist. He is best known for conducting the choir of St Paul's Cathedral at the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales formerly Lady Diana Frances Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981.

Biography

Born in Chingford, England, Rose grew up playing hymns on the piano at his local Sunday school, and later accompanying the choir on the harmonium at the mission church of St Anne's Chingford Hatch. Leaving the Sir George Monoux Grammar School, Walthamstow, at the age of 16, he set out on a career in commerce, working in the insurance departments of W. H. Smith & Son Ltd. and Joseph Rank Ltd. In 1956 he joined Martindale Sidwell's choir at Hampstead Parish Church as a bass, going on from there two years later to become organist and choirmaster at St Andrew's Church, Kingsbury, North West London. It was while he was at Kingsbury that he decided to leave the world of commerce, and despite not having any of the required qualifications for entry, the principal (Sir Thomas Armstrong) offered him a place at London's Royal Academy of Music to study organ with C. H. Trevor. In April 1960, whilst still an unqualified academy student, at the age of 25 he became the youngest cathedral organist in the country when he was appointed as the first Organist & Master of the Choristers at the new Guildford Cathedral. At Guildford he founded a choir to sing the daily services, their first public appearance being the service of consecration on 17 May 1961 in the presence of the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the royal family.

Melleray Abbey

Melleray Abbey (Abbaye de Notre-Dame-de-Melleray) was a Cistercian monastery, founded about the year 1134. It was situated in Brittany, Diocese of Nantes, in La Meilleraye-de-Bretagne in the vicinity of Châteaubriant (in present Loire-Atlantique).

History

Foulques, Abbot of Pontron in Anjou, which was founded from Loroux (itself a daughter foundation of Cîteaux), sent monks for the foundation of a monastery in Brittany. They chose a solitary location near Old Melleray, shown them by Rivallon, pastor of Auverné, which Alain de Moisdon, proprietor of the place, donated to them. Guitern, the first abbot, erected the original monastery in 1145, but the church was not completed until 1183, under Geffroy, the fourth abbot.

Melleray, a small monastery built for about twelve monks, remained regular until during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when relaxation prevailed. Etienne de Brezé (1544) was the first commendatory abbot, and from his time the monastery declined, until toward the end of the seventeenth century when, through the efforts of Dom Jouard, vicar-general of the order, the Rule of St. Benedict was re-introduced, and the monastic buildings restored. In 1791 it was suppressed, and the few religious were dispersed.