Vigil

A vigil (from the Latin "vigilia", meaning "wakefulness") is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance.

It can also be the eve of a religious festival observed by staying awake as a devotional exercise or ritual devotions observed on the eve of a holy day [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05647a.htm Eve of a Feast] , Catholic Encyclopedia] , such as the Easter Vigil held on Holy Saturday. In the Eastern Orthodox Church an All-Night Vigil is held on the eves of Sundays and all major feasts during the liturgical year.

In Christianity, especially the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, a vigil is often held when someone is gravely ill or dying. Prayers are said and votives are often made. Vigils extend from eventual death to burial, ritualistically to pray for a loved one, but more practically so they are never alone.

During the Middle Ages, a squire on the night before his knighting ceremony was expected to take a cleansing bath, fast, make confession, and then hold an all-night vigil of prayer to God in the chapel, readying himself for his life as a knight. He would dress in white, which was the symbol for purity.

When a Jew dies, a watch is kept over the body and Tehillim are recited constantly, until the burial service.

ee also

*All-night vigil
*Wake
*Vigils
*Lamb of god
*Candlelight vigil

References