Abstinence from sleep, whether at a time when sleep is customary or not; the act of keeping awake, or the state of being awake; sleeplessness; wakefulness; watch.
Hence, devotional watching; waking for prayer, or other religious exercises.
Originally, the watch kept on the night before a feast.
Later, the day and the night preceding a feast.
A religious service performed in the evening preceding a feast.
see All-Night Vigil There are currently no terms under the section "W" There are currently no terms under the section "X" There are currently no terms under the section "Y"
The knight's watch the night before his elevation to knighthood, the accolade, frequently conducted upon the altar at a church. There is little mention of the practice before the late 15th century, yet it has become an iconographic part of the knightly image. Modern knights in the SCA hold their vigils all night, from ‘dusk till dawn', often attended by other knights of high renown, who speak to the candidate about what it means to be a knight.
This is the visitation that takes place at a funeral home one to three days prior to the funeral. At the end of the vigil (the night before the funeral), a priest, deacon or parish minister leads prayers for the family. The Order of Christian Funerals provides beautiful services for this occasion or sometimes the rosary is said.
a devotional watch (especially on the eve of a religious festival)
a mass that is celebrated on the evening before a particular feast day, in anticipation of that day, and also because the Church traditionally reckons the beginning of a day at sunset of the day before
a period of "watch" or "wakefulness
a time of watching, waiting, and preparing
a watch kept for an extended period of time
The eve of a feast; a fast before a feast and a watch, as before the Blessed Sacrament on Maundy Thursday.
In Roman Catholicism, a service held on the eve of the funeral service.
term applied to the day preceding a liturgical feast
A 72 hour period, from before the cats arrive till after they leave, where people sign up in 30 minute increments to pray for the weekend continuously
A watch kept during sleeping hours; the devotional services held on the evening before a religious festival. Vigil light is a candle burned as an act of devotion or petition.
A Roman Catholic religious service held on the eve of the funeral service.
The act of keeping watch over something
A vigil (from the Latin vigilia, 'wakefulness') is a period of sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching or observance.