Commontide

Preparation for Personal Prayer

Holy Spirit, breath of God and fire of love, I cannot pray without your aid: Kindle in me the fire of your love, and illumine me with your light; that with a steadfast will and holy thoughts I may approach the Father in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who reigns with you and the Father in eternal union. Amen.

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Commontide
Antiphon
Prayers

Guide Us Waking, O Lord

Compline

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.

Salva nos, Domine, vigilantes, custodi nos dormientes, ut vigilemus cum Christo et requiescamus in pace.

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Original-language source

Provenance

Roman secular office, medieval

Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.

The night prayer of the Western church for over a thousand years, sung before and after the Song of Simeon at Compline. Six verbs, one name, one movement – from the waking day into the sleeping night.