Vespers begins with the glorification of God, the Creator of the
world and its Providence, and consists of the following parts: petitions setting forth our
needs; the singing of psalms and hymns, expressive of regret for the lost
beatitude of Paradise, and repentance of sins; prayers for salvation, and expressions of
hope in the Saviour. The penitential prayers are followed by a hymn of praise
in honor of Christ, who came into the world, then by petitions that the Lord
may have mercy on all Christians and grant them spiritual mercies. The service
ends with the Lord’s Prayer, a hymn of praise in honor of the Mother of God,
and the prayer of the Blessed Symeon the God-bearer. Thus the Vespers service
is replete with memories of the Creation, the Fall,
the expulsion from Paradise and the profound contrition of the best men, who found their only
comfort in hope in the Saviour and joyfully hailed His coming.
Compline is the service before retiring
to rest. Sleep being the image of death, this service is permeated with the
thought of death, not gloomy, but illumined by the remembrance that Christ,
after His death, descended into Hell and brought forth from it the souls of the
righteous who awaited His coming. There are the Great Compline and the Small
Compline. The former consists of three parts. In the first we give thanks to
God for the day, and express the hope that He will grant us a restful sleep
during the approaching night, and rest after death with the Saints. These
feelings find expression, besides all other prayers, in the verse: “God is with
us. Understand, O ye nations, and submit yourselves, for God is with us.” — The
second part is penitential. The substance of all the prayers is expressed in
the penitential troparia* which are sung: “Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy
on us; for at a loss for any defense, we sinners offer to Thee, our Master,
this prayer: Have mercy on us!” — The third part of Compline consists in
glorifications of the Lord and His Saints. The substance of the prayers
composing it is expressed in the Psalm “Praise ye God
in His Saints,” with the added hymn: “O Lord of hosts, be with us, for, beside
Thee, we have no other helper in adversity; O Lord of hosts, have mercy on us!”
Small Compline is an abridgment of the
Great, consisting of the third part alone. Of the first, only the Creed is
read, and of the second, the penitential Psalm “Have mercy on me, O God...”
The Midnight Office consists of the prayers to be recited at
midnight, in memory of Jesus Christ’s midnight prayer in the garden of
Gethsemane, in imitation of the angels, who, night and day, glorify the Lord,
and as a reminder that we should be ever ready to give answer on the Day of
Judgment to Christ, who will come unexpectedly, as the bridegroom in the night.
The Daily Midnight Office consists of two parts: The first reminds us by its
prayers of the second coming of Christ and the Judgment, proclaiming that
“Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord”; while
the second part contains prayers for the dead. The Sunday Midnight Office
consists of glorifications of the Holy Trinity.
In some monasteries,
the morning and evening prayers which all Christians should read before
retiring and upon arising are adjoined, respectively, to the services of Compline
and the Midnight Office.
Note.— On the days on which an
All-Night Vigil is ordered, the Compline and Midnight Office are omitted,
except during Great Lent, when the vigil consists (in general) of Great
Compline,