Dad’s Poem Becomes Resource for Families

by Diocese of Des Moines | November 26, 2025

A Very Little Office of Compline Night Prayer for Children by Iowa Catholic Radio’s morning host Bo Bonner introduces night prayers, called compline in Latin, along with psalms and songs for families.

The book originated about 15 years ago as a poem Bonner wrote to teach his own children the prayer Benedictine monks say each night before going to bed. Bonner is a Benedictine oblate, a lay person striving to live by the Rule of St. Benedict. 

He shared the poem with a friend, Gwenneth Thompson-Briggs, who made a small illustrated version of the poem many years ago for Bonner’s kids.

They considered turning it into a book, but life took them in different directions for a while. Recently, they decided to give their dream another try.

Using just the poem wasn’t enough content for a book, so they began using rhymes with other prayer.

“Night prayer is something elementary to so many people,” said the father of five with his wife, Robyn. “Night prayer is something we can do with our kids.”

The book is small, perfect for little hands, and is illustrated in a way that evokes memories of children’s books of old with watercolor images that are gentle and dreamlike.

“There’s memorable imagery but that won’t assault the senses of the child,” Bonner said.

“Anything that can get people praying the office is good,” he said. “A short office is easier for some people. Prayers you can memorize are easier.”

Bonner was raised in Oklahoma in the Baptist tradition. He converted to Catholicism while he was studying in a Protestant seminary. He taught at several universities in areas of philosophy, theology, and literature, and is working on a doctoral degree in Catholic theology at St. Mary’s University in London.

So it surprises him that his first book would be for children.

“God sees better than I do. I would have thought I’d write a 1,000-page tome,” he said. Yet in spite of the philosophy and theology he enjoys debating, “God saw fit for a children’s book to be my first book. It’s fitting. The best little philosophers are children who ask a thousand questions.”

Bonner sees fertile ground for beginning a series that looks at the other seven hours of the day that Benedictines pray. While a sequel isn’t planned, perhaps, he muses, providence will have him and Thompson-Briggs collaborate again.

A Very Little Office of Compline Night Prayer for Children is available at Divine Treasures in Des Moines, tanbooks.com, and other online retailers.