St Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, as evening comes on…
Compline is open to the public. For current restrictions or more information, go to the Compline Choir website.
The Compline Choir at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle presents the Office of Compline live via video livestream and audio broadcast on Classical 98.1 KING-FM. Singers are fully compliant with current health guidance. The Compline Choir is a ministry of the Diocese of Olympia and of Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral. The Compline service is offered every Sunday night at 9:30 PM Pacific Time.
Video livestream feeds:
Livestream at complinechoir.org
Livestream at The Compline Choir Facebook page
Livestream at saintmarks.org
Livestream at St. Mark’s Cathedral Facebook page
Video livestream archive:
(link to the livestream archive on saintmarks.org after the service)
Audio stream feeds:
Live broadcast on KING-FM (Sundays at 9:30 pm PDT)
(link to the podcast on complinepodcast.org when uploaded)
Compline for The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
The READER begins with a Land Acknowledgment, then (on most days) reads a short passage selected from scripture.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Compline Choir and Saint Mark’s Cathedral acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of all the Coast Salish Tribes.
ORISON: ‘Phos hilaron,’ from Music for Compline – Kevin Siegfried (b. 1969)
O gracious Light
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.
O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
O gracious Light!
PREPARATION
READER: The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.
CHOIR: Amen.
READER: Beloved in Christ, be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, steadfast in the faith. [I Peter 5: 8, 9a]
READER: But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
CHOIR: Thanks be to God.
READER: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
CHOIR: Who hath made heaven and earth.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
READER: Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God.
CHOIR: We confess to God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, through our own grievous fault. Wherefore we pray God to have mercy upon us.
CHOIR: Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us all our sins and deliver us from all evil, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and bring us to life everlasting. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
READER: May the almighty and merciful Lord grant unto us pardon and remission of all our sins, time for amendment of life, and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit.
CHOIR: Amen.
The following is chanted.
CANTOR: O God, make speed to save us;
CHOIR: O Lord, make haste to help us.
CANTOR: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
CHOIR: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
CANTOR: Praise ye the Lord;
CHOIR: The Lord’s name be praiséd.
The READER announces the Psalm to be sung. The appointed psalms for Compline are Psalm 4 (Cum invocarem), Psalm 31:1-6 (In te, Domine, speravi), Psalm 91 (Qui habitat), and Psalm 134 (Ecce nunc). Other psalms may be used as appropriate to the church year. Many of the psalm settings sung in the service have been composed by Peter Hallock or Jason Anderson.
PSALM 88:1-10 – Peter R. Hallock (1924-2014)
O LORD God of my salvation,
I have cried day and night before thee: *
O let my prayer enter into thy presence,
incline thine ear unto my calling;
For my soul is full of trouble, *
and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
I am counted as one of them that go down into the pit, *
and I am even as a man that hath no strength;
Cast off among the dead,
like unto them that are slain, and lie in the grave, *
who are out of remembrance, and are cut away from thy hand.
Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, *
in a place of darkness, and in the deep.
Thine indignation lieth hard upon me, *
and thou hast vexed me with all thy storms.
Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me, *
and made me to be abhorred of them.
I am so fast in prison *
that I cannot get forth.
My sight faileth for very trouble; *
LORD, I have called daily upon thee,
I have stretched forth my hands unto thee.
Dost thou show wonders among the dead? *
or shall the dead rise up again, and praise thee?
Glory be to the Father, and tó the Són, *
and to the Hóly Ghóst;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and éver sháll be, *
world wíthout énd. Amen.
The READER speaks the following lesson in Eastertide:
Thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy Name. Leave us not, O Lord our God. – [Jeremiah 14:9]
CHOIR: Thanks be to God.
The following Respond is chanted:
CANTOR: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Alleluia, alleluia.
CHOIR: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Alleluia, alleluia.
CANTOR: For thou hast redeeméd me, O Lord, thou God of truth;
CHOIR: Alleluia, alleluia.
CANTOR: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
CHOIR: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Alleluia, alleluia.
The READER announces the hymn to be sung. The hymn appointed for Compline is Te lucis ante terminum (Before the ending of the day). Other hymns may be sung as appropriate to the church year.
HYMN: Jesus shall reign where’er the sun (Tune: TRURO) – Psalmodia Evangelica, 1789
Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
does its successive journeys run,
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.
To him shall endless prayer be made,
and praises throng to crown his head.
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
with every morning sacrifice.
People and realms of every tongue
dwell on his love with sweetest song,
and infant voices shall proclaim
their early blessings on his name.
Blessings abound where’er he reigns:
the prisoners leap to lose their chains,
the weary find eternal rest,
and all who suffer want are blest.
Let every creature rise and bring
the highest honors to our King,
angels descend with songs again,
and earth repeat the loud amen.
The following is chanted:
CANTOR: Keep me as the apple of an eye;
CHOIR: Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.
NUNC DIMITTIS from Second Fauxbourdon Service – Philip Moore (b. 1943)
A setting of the Nunc dimittis (from Luke 2:29-32, with Gloria Patri) is sung. The text may be from the King James version or from one of several modern translations. An antiphon precedes and follows it:
ANTIPHON: Preserve us, O Lord, while waking, and guard us while sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace. Alleluia, Alleluia!
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : according to thy word;
For mine eyes have seen : thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared : before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles : and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen.
The Apostles Creed is intoned by the choir. The Assembly rises.
CANTOR: I believe in God,
CHOIR: the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
THE PRAYERS
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy upon us.
CHOIR: Christ, have mercy upon us.
CANTOR: Lord, have mercy upon us.
The Lord’s Prayer and the following versicles and responses are intoned:
CANTOR: Our Father,
CHOIR: 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 as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
CANTOR: Blessed art thou, Lord God of our fathers;
CHOIR: To be praised and glorified above all for ever.
CANTOR: Let us bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost;
CHOIR: Let us praise him and magnify him for ever.
CANTOR: Blessed art thou, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven;
CHOIR: To be praised and glorified above all for ever.
CANTOR: The Almighty and merciful Lord guard us and give us his blessing.
CHOIR: Amen.
CANTOR: Let us pray.
At least three but not more than five prayers (or collects) are intoned by the CANTOR. The first collect is proper to the day:
COLLECT FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
O Lord, we beseech thee, make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name, for thou never failest to help and govern those whom thou hast set upon the sure foundation of thy loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Other collects offered address the needs and concerns of the choir, or local or global community. The final collect is chosen from the following:
Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this place, and drive from it all the snares of the enemy; let thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace; and may thy blessing be upon us evermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Or
O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
CHOIR: Amen.
The READER announces the anthem to be sung.
ANTHEM: Abendgebet – Jacob Beranek (b. 1998)
[German]
Herr, mein Gott, Ich danke dir, daß du
diesen Tag zu Ende gebracht hast;
ich danke dir, daß du Leib und Seele
zur Ruhe kommen läßt.
Deine Hand war über mir und hat mich
behütet und bewahrt.
Vergib allen Kleinglauben und alles
Unrecht dieses Tages
und hilf, daß ich allen vergebe,
die mir Unrecht getan haben.
Laß mich in Frieden
unter deinem Schutz schlafen
und bewahre mich vor den
Anfechtungen der Finsternis.
Ich befehle dir die Meinen,
ich befehle dir dieses Haus,
ich befehle dir meinen Leib und meine Seele.
Gott, dein heiliger Name sei gelobt.
[English Translation]
Lord, my God, I thank you that you
have brought this day to a close;
I thank you that you have allowed
my body and soul to come to rest.
Your hand was over me
and has protected and preserved me.
Forgive all the lack of faith and
all the injustice of this day,
and help me to forgive all
who have done injustice towards me.
Allow me in peace
to sleep beneath your protection,
and defend me from the
spiritual crises of darkness.
I commend to you all that is mine,
I commend to you this house,
I commend to you my body and my soul.
God, your holy name be praised.
FINAL RESPONSES and BLESSING
The CHOIR sings the final versicles and responses, using a setting composed by Peter Hallock in 1956, the year of the Compline Choir’s founding:
CANTOR: We will lay us down in peace and take our rest:
CHOIR: For it is thou, Lord, only that makest us to dwell in safety.
CANTOR: The Lord be with you:
CHOIR: And with thy spirit.
CANTOR: Let us bless the Lord:
CHOIR: Thanks be to God.
The closing blessing is spoken:
CHOIR: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. Amen.
READER: The Almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, bless and preserve us.
CHOIR: Amen.
Compline Underground 