Night Prayer
Night Prayer or Compline is to be prayed as the last prayer of the day just before retiring. It sanctifies the final hour of day. It is the time for an examination of conscience and a time to prepare for sleep, a time to prepare for what awaits us the next day and most importantly, a time to prepare for death. This is the time when we seriously look back at what we have done and accomplished so far during the day or previous days, mistakes we have made, a word we should not have said or gossip we should not have been involved in, and we try to make resolutions to do better with God’s help. The psalms of Night Prayer are psalms of trust and of lament. Example: Psalm 88, Friday, Night Prayer.
“Lord my God, I call for help by day; I cry at night before you. Let my prayer come into Your presence. O turn Your ear to my cry. For my soul is filled with evils; my life is on the brink of the grave.”
St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians said, “Your attitude must be that of Christ,” so in prayer as well, our attitude must be that of Christ and we can be certain that we will always pray in spirit and in truth. Every time we pray with all our heart in all humility and confidence, we grow closer to our Lord. St. Therese used to say, “Hold on tight to your confidence. It is impossible for God not to respond to that, because He always measures His gifts by how much confidence we have.” So when we pray, our attitude should be that of trust and of confidence that we are heard and most of all, that we are loved very much by our Heavenly Father.
Finally, I would like to conclude this little introduction to the Liturgy of the Hours Workshop by repeating the advice that St. Therese gave regarding prayer. She said that “we should have a happy heart when we pray because Jesus loves a soul that is always smiling.” She said, “as contemplatives, we should try and console Jesus so He will be able to rest His divine head upon ours.” This is how we give him delight. This is how we give Him pleasure.
It is not enough to go about the motions of prayer and say, “I’ve done it, I’ve prayed Morning and Evening Prayer - I’ve fulfilled what I’m supposed to do for the day.” It is not what we do and how long we do it, but how much love we put into it that counts. As St. Therese puts it, “Without love, all our deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.” And as our Holy Father St. John of the Cross said, “When evening comes, you will be examined in love. Learn to love as God desires to be loved and abandon your own ways of acting.”
**O Lord, hear my voice when I call;
have mercy and answer.
Of You my heart has spoken:
"Seek his face."
It is Your face, O Lord, that I seek;
hide not Your face.**
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*Article 5 of our Rule of Life states that " The liturgical life, as a perennial participation it the Paschal Mystery, nourishes the Secular Carmelites in their daily commitment to follow Christ crucified and risen. It leads towards an ever more perfect union with God, by making the pains and joys of their life an offering of praise and glory to the Lord. The liturgical life of the Secular Carmelites expresses itself mainly though participation in the Eucharist and in the celebration of the Church's Divine Office. They will therefore, as far as possible, join in the celebration of daily Mass, and each day celebrate Morning and Evening Prayer (Lauds and Vespers) according to the Liturgy of the Hours; if possible, they will recite also Night Prayer (Compline) before retiring.
The entire Liturgy of the Hours can be located at
[liturgyhours.org/](http://www.liturgyhours.org/)
