Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.“ Soft voices fill sacred space. “Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping.“ Compline closes the day. Prayer proceeds without ceasing. The words are chanted and sung at the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, a monastic community of the Episcopal Church. Its monastery lies in Cambridge along the Charles River, adjacent to Harvard University. The premises include a guest house, quarters for the brothers, and the Chapel of Saint Mary and Saint John, and are open for retreats that are not withdrawals but re-entries into the real. Visitors include groups and individuals, friends and strangers—although in the truest sense there are no strangers here. Silence predominates. In a world of noise, it is a welcome sound. “Elected silence, sing to me.“