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: ''This article is about the period of sleeplessness. For all other usages, see Vigil (disambiguation).''
A 'vigil' (from the Latin ''vigilia'', 'wakefulness') is a period of sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching or 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.
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.
When a Jew dies, a watch is kept over the body and Tehillim are recited constantly, until the burial service.

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See also

References

See also

★ All-night vigil

★ Wake (ceremony)

★ Vigil (band)

References

1. Eve of a Feast, Catholic Encyclopedia