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Views from the Choir Loft

At home it doesn’t have to be perfect

Veronica Brandt · July 6, 2013

ACH NIGHT we sing Compline, the night prayer of the Divine Office. We learnt it before we had children back when we went to Mass at the Maternal Heart Church. We kept it up until somewhere in the blur of having little children we let it slide.

When we were pressed for time we would cut out the psalms. That may be leaving out the most important part, but as layfolk, not obliged to pray them, it seems fair enough.

For a while we used the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There are recordings to prove it. It is relatively easy to sing from memory – rather like the Benedictine or Monastic Compline.

Now we are back in the groove of the regular 1962 Liber Usualis version. I thought it would help get the baby to sleep, but more often than not she will be wide eyed, taking it all in. The cat also seems attracted to the scene – especially if people kneel down where she can shmooze around them. The older boys can read the Latin. The younger ones have learnt much of it. Dad picks out boys to lead different parts each night.

SO WHAT IS THE FIRST STEP to bringing this into your home? Everyone is going to have a different perspective, but here is my suggestion. Try the hymn for Compline. The prayers to ward off bad dreams are helpful when getting children off to bed.

John Mason Neale’s translation runs thus:

To Thee, before the close of day
Creator of the world, we pray
that with Thy wonted favor, Thou
wouldst be our Guard and Keeper now.

From all ill dreams defend our eyes,
from nightly fears and fantasies:
tread under foot our ghostly foe,
that no pollution we may know.

O Father, that we ask be done
through Jesus Christ Thine only Son,
who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee,
shall live and reign eternally. Amen.

You could sing this to any long meter tune – same as O Salutaris or O saving Victim for Benediction.

Or sing the Gregorian chant from the Liber Usualis.

  Te lucis ante terminum for Sundays and minor feasts. [pdf]

(Thank you GregoBase.)

And to help you out with the sheet music, here are a few of my family singing it through.

  Te lucis sung at home [mp3]

Lastly, here is the serious rendition with the music scrolling past.

That is just a suggestion. Your mileage may vary. How did you start praying the Liturgy of the Hours? What are your thoughts?

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Compline Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

It should be borne in mind that there is no preference expressed in the liturgical legislation for either “versus populum” or “ad orientem.” Since both positions enjoy the favor of law, the legislation may not be invoked to say that one position or the other accords more closely with the mind of the Church.

— ‘Congregation for Divine Worship (Vatican City), 10 April 2000’

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