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Sources and corrections

This reader follows the 1960 Roman rubrics and general calendar, for personal prayer alone. All eight Hours are prepared for every date in 2026 and 2027. The local calendars of particular dioceses or religious orders are not included.

The texts and rules were checked with AI assistance against printed traditional sources. This review does not claim approval by a liturgical expert. English includes historical translations and reviewed adaptations, and does not reproduce a single edition word for word.

We welcome corrections. Include the date, language, prayer and a printed source or clear reference so we can check the wording and update the website and both apps together.

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Joining public Compline

At public Compline, follow the leader and the chapel’s custom. This reader gives the form for praying alone, so it does not show every exchange between priest and choir. Religious communities may use a different form.

  1. Stand for the opening. Sit once the first psalm has begun. Remain seated through the antiphon repeated after the last psalm.
  2. Stand after the psalms. Stand for the hymn, short reading, responsory, Nunc dimittis and closing prayers. Certain penitential weekday Offices and vigils call for kneeling at the closing prayer; follow the leader.
  3. Kneel for the final antiphon to Our Lady and its prayer. On Saturdays, Sundays and throughout Eastertide, the Roman rule is to stand instead.

Bowing: it is customary to bow at “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,” then straighten at “As it was in the beginning.” You can follow the group.

The sign of the cross: at “Our help is in the name of the Lord,” “May the almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon,” “O God, come to my assistance,” the beginning of Nunc dimittis, the final blessing, and “May the divine assistance remain always with us.” At “Convert us, O God our Saviour,” make a small cross on the breast.

A repeated prayer: when a priest leads, the Confiteor (“I confess to almighty God”) can be said once by him and once by the choir. Join the choir’s part, bowing with the group and striking your breast at each “through my fault.” When praying alone, say it once. The Credo (“I believe in God”) is not prescribed in the 1960 Roman order of Compline; older orders can differ.

Psalm numbers: the ordinary Tuesday psalms are 11, 12 and 15, using traditional numbering. Chant verse numbers count the sung lines. They can differ from Bible references in Text mode because a Bible verse can be joined or split for chanting.

Sources: 1960 Roman rubrics, nos. 261-268, printed pp. 641-642; Compline’s order is in nos. 178-181, printed p. 630. The 1961 Liber Usualis, printed p. 263, gives the priest and choir’s Confiteor. Bows follow Fortescue’s The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described (1918), pp. 29-30 and 235-236.

Preparing the complete book

The prayers are assembled from a fixed version of Divinum Officium’s 1960 Roman source. Checks cover all 5,840 date and Hour combinations, complete English and Latin text, and selected seasonal and feast rules. Matins preserves its readings and responsories; Prime includes its capitular prayers and Martyrology.

Selected rules were checked against the original printed rubrics, including three or nine Matins readings, omission of Te Deum in penitential seasons, Holy Week, the Easter and Pentecost octaves, first Vespers and transferred feasts. Each English Matins lesson has not been compared word for word with a printed scan.

English draws on historical translations, including the Marquess of Bute’s 1908 Roman Breviary, Neale and Caswall, with later upstream adaptations. Individual translators of every inherited adaptation are not always identified. The English Martyrology and the Latin Martyrology reflect different historical editions, so their lists and ordering can differ.

Divinum Officium provides the source assembly. We use the Roman 1960 rubrics. The English is an aid to personal prayer and understanding.

Gregorian chant for Compline

The optional chant view uses the Latin music of the 1961 Liber Usualis, including its 1960 amendments. Ordinary Compline is on pages 262-279, weekday psalms on pages 283-316, the Easter form on pages 783-784, and All Souls on pages 1741-1745. The simple Marian antiphon tones are used.

Notation is based on Benjamin Bloomfield’s Compline transcriptions, with the original public domain dedication retained. Repeated responses are written out in full. Novena Regina’s additional common versicles follow the printed tone on page 118. Hymn selection follows the 1960 amendments; older proper doxologies are replaced by the common stanza printed with the same melody. Text and seasonal checks used AI assistance and do not claim a human chant editor’s proofread.

The chant view keeps the remaining prayers and directions in sequence between the scores. Follow the directions for silent prayer or plain recitation. The last three days of Holy Week are recited without singing. Chant display uses Exsurge under its MIT license. The notation is included when you download the current prayer book for offline reading.

Printed witnesses

Original 1960 rubrics in Acta Apostolicae Sedis 52, pp. 622-638, govern the Hours, readings, psalter, solo responses and endings.

Further text corrections

A further review covered the full week of Compline and selected ordinary and seasonal forms of all eight Hours. Checks across the complete book cover prayer order, bilingual psalm references and missing text. This is not a claim that every lesson has been independently proofread.

  • Prime’s ordinary short reading now includes “our hearts and bodies,” following the Latin liturgical reading rather than the unadapted Bible verse. This English wording is a reviewed adaptation.
  • None’s chapter for confessors follows Bute’s historical translation of the liturgical passage. Advent readings and repeated responses follow the corresponding Latin words and divisions.
  • Holy Week’s direction after the silent Our Father now says to speak in a slightly louder voice, matching the Latin instruction.
  • Matins Scripture corrections restore a missing clause, correct transcription and reference errors, and align the opening of the All Souls reading with the corresponding passage of St Augustine.
  • Three English Compline psalm lines regain their pause mark to match the Latin recitation. Chant retains its printed phrasing, which can differ from the recited psalter.

Printed comparisons include the 1961 Liber Usualis, Bute’s 1908 Roman Breviary, the John Murphy Douay-Rheims Bible, and H. Browne’s translation of St Augustine, printed in 1887.

Compline corrections retained in this book

  • Restored the missing final phrase of Psalm 70:22.
  • Restored Bute’s 1908 short reading and Nunc dimittis antiphon.
  • Corrected “that joy” in Caswall’s Alma Redemptoris Mater.
  • Translated the remaining Latin sentence in the English All Souls ending.

Easter retains the fourfold Alleluia printed in the Liber Usualis proper. The source’s evening feast heading is kept as source metadata; it is not used as the displayed identity of Compline.

Text attribution and reuse notice

Latin Roman Office and Douay-Rheims-Challoner Scripture; historical English by Bute, J. M. Neale and Edward Caswall; inherited translation adaptations from Divinum Officium.

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