Singing the prayer of Compline, every night, is possible and easier than you think. Follow these 3 steps:

1- Order the book by Father Weber (only $17 from Ignatius Press )

2- Watch the video below, and the other pages on this website as you wait for the book to be delivered: Vibration and Proportionality , Chanting the psalms – before you start… , 6 intervals are all you need… , Modality – introduction .

3- Email Hervé at longbeachchant@live.com to get some help in navigating the book and schedule some sing-alongs to start.

Sum-up of the video:

Singing Compline by reading square notes and following the rules of St Benedict may be “a bridge too far” for many. To this we reply: 1- be not afraid  2- take your time 3- it is worth it, and you’re not alone.

Be not afraid: rules can be scary, but only when they are enforced. Rules actually can be liberating.

Take your time: Liturgical chant does not follow our rushed time. Trying to rush is actually going backwards.

It is worth it, and you are not alone: Unity results from chanting the psalms. Christian chant bears some similarities with other chant traditions, but important differences: we sing the Word of God, not a mantra, and thus we engage the mind, rather than neutralizing it.

Questions? Email Hervé : longbeachchant@live.com

RETURN TO The Office of Compline

For more context on singing the psalms, see also SINGING NEXT WEEK’S MASS or Chanting the psalms?… Why?