Compline is the Church’s bedtime prayer. It’s the last service in the daily cycle, prayed before sleep to close out the day, ask forgiveness for our failings, and place ourselves under God’s protection through the night.
The word comes from Latin (meaning “completion”), but the Greek term is even clearer: Apodeipnon, which literally means “after supper.” That tells you everything. You’ve finished your work, eaten your meal, and now you’re bringing the day to a close before God.
Two Versions, Two Purposes
We’ve got Small Compline and Great Compline. Small Compline is shorter, meant for ordinary weeknights. Great Compline is longer and more penitential, used especially during Great Lent. If you’ve been to a weeknight Lenten service at St. Michael’s and heard the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete chanted, you’ve experienced Great Compline.
Both versions share the same basic purpose. They help us examine the day that’s passed, confess where we’ve fallen short, and prepare our souls for sleep. Sleep is a kind of little death in Orthodox theology. We don’t know if we’ll wake up. So Compline isn’t just about feeling peaceful before bed (though it can do that). It’s about facing the reality that we’re fragile, that the night holds dangers both visible and invisible, and that we need God’s mercy and protection.
What Happens During Compline
The service centers on three Psalms: 50, 69, and 142 in the Septuagint numbering (that’s 51, 70, and 143 if you’re reading a Protestant Bible). Psalm 50 is the great penitential psalm: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love.” You’ll hear it constantly in Orthodox worship because we’re constantly asking for mercy.
After the psalms come hymns, the Creed, and a series of prayers. Great Compline includes a full canon with multiple odes, which is why it takes longer. There’s the Trisagion (“Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us”), repeated petitions of “Lord, have mercy” (often forty times in Great Compline), and specific prayers that have been part of this service for centuries. One is attributed to Antiochus the Monk, another to Paul the Monk. These aren’t just ancient names. They’re real people who prayed these words, and now we pray them too.
The service ends with mutual forgiveness. We ask forgiveness from one another for the day’s offenses. If you’ve worked a twelve-hour shift at the refinery and come home exhausted and short-tempered with your family, Compline gives you a way to acknowledge that and seek reconciliation before sleep.
Monastic Roots, Parish Life
Compline comes from the monastic tradition. Monks and nuns have always prayed the full cycle of daily services: Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, Matins, and the Hours. Most laypeople can’t keep that schedule (especially not if you’re working rotating shifts), but parishes often offer Compline during Lent or on special occasions.
At St. Michael’s, you’ll typically encounter Great Compline on weeknights during Lent, often combined with the Canon of St. Andrew. Some families also pray a shorter form of Compline at home as a bedtime routine. It’s a beautiful way to end the day, especially with kids. You’re teaching them that the last voice they hear before sleep isn’t the TV or their own anxious thoughts, but the Church’s ancient prayers.
Why This Matters
We live in a culture that doesn’t know how to end the day. We scroll our phones in bed, watch one more episode, check email one more time. We don’t have rituals for closure. Compline gives us that. It says: the day is done, you’ve done what you could, now confess your sins, forgive and be forgiven, and entrust yourself to God’s care.
It’s also deeply countercultural in another way. Compline assumes we’re not in control. We can’t protect ourselves through the night. We need God’s angels to guard us, God’s mercy to cover us. That’s hard for us to admit, especially in Southeast Texas where self-reliance is a virtue. But it’s true. And Compline lets us speak that truth out loud.
If you want to experience Compline, come to a weeknight Lenten service. Or ask Fr. Michael for a simple text you can pray at home. You don’t need to understand every word the first time. Just let the rhythm of the psalms and the repetition of “Lord, have mercy” wash over you. That’s how the Church has been putting her children to bed for two thousand years.
