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A text in Callinicus (between 447 and 450), first introduced in Father Pargoire's argument, informs us that between [[Vespers]] and the [[Midnight Office]] there was celebrated in the East a canonical Hour called in this text ''prothypnia'', because it preceded the first sleep, being nothing other than what the Greeks today call ''apodeipnon'', on account of the meal it follows. However, in the thirty-seventh question of his ''Great Asketikon'' (''Long Rules''), [[St. Basil|St. Basil the Great]], also, speaks of an intermediate Hour between Vespers and the [[Midnight Office]]. Father Pargoire therefore disputes the assertion that St. Benedict was the originator of Compline, being rather disposed to trace its source to St. Basil.
In the article mentioned above, Father Vandepitte confirms these conclusions; nevertheless he states, in the clearest terms, that it was not in Cæsarea in 375, but in his retreat in Pontus (358-362), that Basil established Compline, which Hour did not exist prior to his time, that is, until shortly after the middle of the 4th century. Dom Plaine also traced the source of Compline back to the 4th century, finding mention of it in a passage in [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]] and in another in [[St. Ambrose]], and also in [[John Cassian]]. These passages have been critically examined, and Fathers Pargoire and Vandepitte have proved that before St. Basil's time the custom of reciting Compline was unknown.
At any rate, even if these texts do not express all that Dom Plaine says they do, at least they bear witness to the private custom of saying a prayer before retiring to rest. If this was not the canonical Hour of Compline, it was certainly a preliminary step towards it.