Compline at Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC—04.25.2010

Compline at Chapel of the Cross.

This was our last Compline of the academic year. We've been using the Order for Compline, as set by David Hurd.

Here are our little additions:

Let my prayer come up into Thy presence (Henry Purcell)
Psalms 91 and 134 (chanted to Tone 8)
Hymn: Christ, mighty Saviour (CHRISTE, LUX MUNDI, plainsong Mode 7)
In manus tuas (Sheppard; sung in addition to "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit ...)
Nunc Dimittis from Short Service (O. Gibbons)
Regina Coeli (Marian antiphon right after the Dismissal)
Ave Maria (Josquin Desprez)
Organ improvisation by the abfab Van Quinn

After the service, we were told just how much of an impact we made on the congregation. For Chapel of the Cross, the Compline service has become the 'seeker' service. At least six weddings have taken place at Chapel of the Cross where the bride and the groom met at Compline. A serviceman, who was a recent UNC graduate and was stationed in Iraq, wrote of bringing the Compline service to the troops where it was very well-received. As Van had once told us, "We have little sense of the impact of what we do on Sunday evenings on those sitting out there in the dark." So it was really nice to hear how our efforts every Sunday evening affected those sitting out in the pews. It makes what we do worth it.

Compline won't start up again until the Fall Semester, sometime either in late August or early September.

(Note: the picture above depicts one of the votive candle layouts that Jimmy Satterwhite had laid out a couple of years ago. I can't remember where the picture came from, though.)