vigil

1. 1. A watch kept during normal sleeping hours.
   2. The act or a period of observing; surveillance.
2. The eve of a religious festival observed by staying awake as a devotional exercise.
3. Ritual devotions observed on the eve of a holy day. Often used in the plural.

[Middle English vigile, a devotional watching, from Old French, from Latin vigilia, wakefulness, watch, from vigil, awake.]

noun

The act of carefully watching: lookout, surveillance, vigilance, watch. Idioms: watch and ward. See awareness/unawareness.

This article is about a period of intentional sleeplessness. For all other usages, see Vigil (disambiguation).

Vigil, tacuinum sanitatis casanatensis (XIV century)

"A Knight's Vigil" by John Pettie

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 ^[1], 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. The Italian word vigilia has become generalized in this sense and means "eve" (as in on the eve of the war).

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. Vigils are also commonly observed on Holy Days in the Anglican and Methodist Churches.^[2]

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.

See also

• All-night vigil
• Wake
• Vigils
• Candlelight vigil

References

1. ^ Eve of a Feast, Catholic Encyclopedia
2. ^ http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=2072519&ct=6763853

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - nattevågen, nattevagt

Nederlands (Dutch)
het waken, waakzaamheid, nachtwake, dag/avond voor rooms-katholieke feestdag, nachtgebed, wacht

Français (French)
n. - (gén) veille, veillée, (Relig) vigile, (Pol) manifestation silencieuse

Deutsch (German)
n. - Wachen, Vigil

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - νυχτέρι, ξενύχτι, (θρησκ.) ολονυκτία

Italiano (Italian)
veglia, vigilia

Português (Portuguese)
n. - vigília (f), véspera (f)

Русский (Russian)
бодрствование, канун праздника, круглосуточная демонстрация протеста

Español (Spanish)
n. - vigilia, vela

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - vaka, helgdagsafton

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
警戒, 守夜, 监视

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 警戒, 守夜, 監視

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 철야, 불면, 철야 기도

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 寝ずの番, 徹夜の祈り, 祝日の前夜, 徹夜

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) سهر, عشيه ( عيد)‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮עירות, אי-שינה, הפגנת מישמר שקטה, ערב חג‬

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