Catholic night prayer has a proper name: Compline. It is the last of the seven hours of the Liturgy of the Hours, said after sunset and before sleep, and it is the shortest and gentlest of them. The whole thing takes about five minutes.
You do not need a breviary, a chapel, or any particular state of grace to pray it. Compline is the Church’s own way of putting the day down, and it is designed to be said when you are tired, which is usually the condition you are in by the time you get to it.
This guide covers what Compline actually contains and how to pray it at home, the traditional Catholic evening prayers most families use instead or alongside it, the Examen, Marian night prayers, and short prayers for praying with children at bedtime.
Table of Contents
What Compline Is, in Plain Terms
Compline, from the Latin completorium, means the prayer that completes the day. It has been prayed in more or less its current shape since the sixth century, when Saint Benedict set it as the final office of the monastic day. When people search for Catholic night prayer, this is almost always what they have found a reference to.
A said Compline has five moving parts, and they always come in the same order:
An examination of conscience, followed by the Confiteor. A short, honest look back at the day.
A hymn, traditionally Te lucis ante terminum, ‘Before the ending of the day’.
One or two psalms. Psalm 91 on Sundays, Psalm 4 and Psalm 134 on other nights. These rotate on a weekly cycle.
A short reading and the responsory, which carries the line ‘Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.’
The Nunc Dimittis, the Canticle of Simeon, followed by a closing prayer and a Marian antiphon.
That is the entire structure. Nothing in it requires a priest, a group, or Latin. The Liturgy of the Hours is the prayer of the whole Church, and a layperson saying it alone in bed at 11 pm is praying it correctly.
If you pray one line tonight
Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. You have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth.
This is the responsory at the heart of Compline, taken from Psalm 31:5, and it is what Christ said from the cross. If you are too tired for anything else, this one line carries the whole office.
How to Pray Compline at Home
The full office is in the Liturgy of the Hours, but a home version that keeps the shape takes five minutes and needs nothing printed. Work through it in this order.
Step
What you say
Roughly
1. Look back
Where was I short today? Where was I given something?
60 seconds
2. Ask pardon
The Confiteor, or simply ‘Lord, have mercy’
20 seconds
3. Pray a psalm
Psalm 91 or Psalm 4, read slowly
90 seconds
4. Commend yourself
‘Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit’
15 seconds
5. Close with Mary
The Hail Mary, or the Salve Regina
45 seconds
A five minute home Compline that keeps the traditional order of the office.
Two practical notes. Compline is prayed after sunset, but the rubric that matters more is that it is the last thing you do before sleep, so say it in bed if that is when you will actually say it. And if you fall asleep partway through, the tradition is fairly relaxed about that. Falling asleep while praying is not a failure of the prayer.
Before the ending of the day, Creator of the world, we pray that You, with steadfast love, would keep Your watch around us while we sleep.Te lucis ante terminum, 7th century hymn
Visit this house, we beg You, Lord, and drive far from it the snares of the enemy. May Your holy angels dwell here to keep us in peace, and may Your blessing be always upon us. Amen.Compline, closing prayer
Now, Master, You may let Your servant go in peace, according to Your word, for my eyes have seen Your salvation.Nunc Dimittis, Luke 2:29 to 30
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.Psalm 91:1
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.Psalm 4:8
Traditional Catholic Prayers for Night
Most Catholic households do not pray the full office at night. They pray a handful of familiar prayers in sequence, which is an old and entirely legitimate practice. These are the ones that turn up most often at the end of the day.
I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.The Confiteor
Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.Guardian Angel Prayer
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.Prayer for the Faithful Departed
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.Salve Regina
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, assist me in my last agony. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, may I sleep and take my rest in peace with you.Traditional night offering
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love.Act of Contrition
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Night prayer is a good habit. When the wakings keep coming anyway, Betteroo builds a gentle, personalized sleep plan around your child, for less than a single consultant call.
The Examen is the Ignatian daily review, and it is the single most portable piece of Catholic night prayer. Saint Ignatius thought it was the one prayer you should never drop, even on the days everything else goes. It has five steps and no fixed words.
Ask for light. Look at the day as God sees it, not as your own anxiety reports it.
Give thanks. Name two or three concrete good things. Not abstractions. A specific conversation, a specific meal.
Walk through the day. Morning to night, without editorialising. Notice where you felt alive and where you felt drained.
Face one thing. Pick a single moment you got wrong, and ask pardon for it. One, not a list.
Look to tomorrow. Ask for what you will specifically need. Patience at 6 am. Words for a hard conversation.
Lord, show me today as You saw it, not as my worry has retold it to me. Amen.
Thank You for the three good things in this day that I nearly walked past. Amen.
Father, I was short with the people I love most today. Forgive me, and let tomorrow be genuinely new. Amen.
Lord, tomorrow I will need patience I do not currently have. Send it ahead of me. Amen.
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. Give me only Your love and Your grace, that is enough for me.Suscipe, Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Marian Night Prayers
Compline always closes with a Marian antiphon, which changes with the liturgical season: the Alma Redemptoris Mater in Advent and Christmas, the Ave Regina Caelorum in Lent, the Regina Caeli in Eastertide, and the Salve Regina for the rest of the year. At home, the Hail Mary does the same job.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.The Hail Mary
We fly to thy protection, O holy Mother of God. Despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin.Sub Tuum Praesidium, 3rd century
Mary, you sat up with a child in the night too. Stay with me through this one. Amen.
Mother of God, watch over the children asleep in this house, and over the ones who cannot sleep. Amen.
A note on praying the rosary at night
A great many people fall asleep during the rosary and then feel bad about it. The traditional advice, attributed to more than one saint, is that a child who falls asleep in a parent’s arms mid-sentence has not insulted the parent. Start it, and let sleep take it where it takes it.
Catholic Bedtime Prayers for Children
Children need night prayers short enough to say from under a duvet and repetitive enough to become theirs. Catholic families usually settle on a fixed sequence: the Sign of the Cross, the Guardian Angel Prayer, a Hail Mary, and then the child’s own list of people to bless.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.The Sign of the Cross
Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this night be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
God bless Mummy, God bless Daddy, God bless everyone I love, and God bless me. Amen.
Jesus, thank You for today. Sorry for the bit that went wrong. Goodnight. Amen.
Dear God, please look after the people who are sad tonight, and the people who are poorly. Amen.
A recurring worry, and it comes up often enough to be worth naming: parents who pray faithfully over a child who still wakes four times a night sometimes start to read the wakings as a spiritual verdict. They are not one.
Frequent night waking in babies and toddlers is developmental or a sleep-association pattern, and it responds to changes in how a child falls asleep at the start of the night. Compline and a sleep plan are answering two different questions, and neither one substitutes for the other.
Prayer and a sleep plan are not in competition
Praying over a child who wakes is not a failure of faith, and fixing the wakings is not a failure of trust. Saint Benedict wrote a whole rule around the idea that ordered, practical daily structure is itself a spiritual good. Getting a baby sleeping through is squarely inside that tradition.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Catholic night prayer called?
It is called Compline, from the Latin completorium, meaning the prayer that completes the day. It is the seventh and final hour of the Liturgy of the Hours, prayed after sunset and immediately before sleep. It is the shortest of the hours, taking about five to ten minutes, and it has been prayed in roughly its current form since the sixth century.
How do I pray Compline at home?
Follow the traditional order in a shortened form: look back over the day, ask pardon with the Confiteor or a simple ‘Lord, have mercy’, read Psalm 91 or Psalm 4 slowly, say ‘Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit’, and close with the Hail Mary or the Salve Regina. That takes about five minutes and needs nothing printed. You do not need a priest or a group to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
What prayers do Catholics say before bed?
Most Catholic households pray a short sequence rather than the full office: the Sign of the Cross, an Act of Contrition, the Guardian Angel Prayer, a Hail Mary, and a prayer for the faithful departed. The Ignatian Examen, a five step review of the day, is also widely used as a night prayer and takes about five minutes.
What psalm is said at Catholic night prayer?
Psalm 91 is used on Sundays and solemnities, and Psalm 4 with Psalm 134 on most other nights, rotating on a weekly cycle. Psalm 91 is the protection psalm, ‘He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High’, and Psalm 4 carries the line that gives Compline its character: ‘In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.’
When the prayers are said and the baby still wakes at 2 am
Betteroo builds a gentle, personalized sleep plan around your child’s actual age and temperament. About three minutes to find your starting point.
