Vigils
In Christian liturgy, a vigil is, in origin, a religious service held during the night leading to a Sunday or other feastday. The Latin term vigilia, from which the word is derived meant a night watch, not necessarily in a military context, and generally reckoned as a fourth part of the night from sunset to sunrise. The four watches or vigils were of varying length in line with the seasonal variation of the length of the night.
The English term "wake", which later became linked to a gathering before a funeral, also denoted originally such a prayer service, and the term "vigil" is even now also used for a funeral service of that kind.
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