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A '''Vigil''' is a period of night watchfulness or vigilance in keeping awake and alert, either voluntarily or involuntarily. It may extend through only a part of the night, or through the entire night or period of darkness as dictated by necessity or according to custom or assigned duty.

A '''Vigil''' is a period of night watchfulness or [[vigilance]] in keeping awake and alert, either voluntarily or involuntarily. It may extend through only a part of the night, or through the entire night or period of darkness as dictated by necessity or according to custom or assigned duty.

Students frequently keep an all night vigil dedicated to intense studying before an important day of exams (examination exercises) the next morning which will determine their academic standing for the subsequent period or term or year.

Students frequently keep an all night vigil dedicated to intense studying before an important day of exams (examination exercises) the next morning which will determine their academic standing for the subsequent period or term or year.

In [[the Gospels]] Jesus tells his disciples in the [[Garden of Gethsemane]] on the night of the Passover to "remain here and keep watch", but they failed to do so (Matthew 26:38-45; Mark 14:34-41). The Jewish tradition of the ''paschal'' vigil is the reason the Sanhedrin was awake when Jesus was arrested and remained awake all night long (Luke 22:54-71).  

In [[the Gospels]] Jesus tells his disciples in the [[Garden of Gethsemane]] on the night of the Passover to "remain here and keep watch", but they failed to do so (Matthew 26:38-45; Mark 14:34-41). The Jewish tradition of the ''paschal'' vigil is the reason the Sanhedrin was awake when Jesus was arrested and remained awake all night long (Luke 22:54-71).  

Christian tradition also observes a vigil of prayer and worship beginning the Saturday evening and night before Easter Sunday morning in particular, as well as other [[Liturgy|liturgical]] vigils assigned as special observances throughout the Church year. Christian monks and hermits, and knights through the [[Middle Ages]] kept vigil the night before taking their final [[vow]]s or receiving from the sovereign the ''accolade'' (knighting), or before setting forth on some great mission or task.

Christian tradition also observes a vigil of prayer and worship beginning the Saturday evening and night before Easter Sunday morning in particular, as well as other [[Liturgy|liturgical]] vigils assigned as special observances throughout the Church year. The [[Orthodox Church]]es have a centuries-old traditional ''All-Night Vigil'' of great ritual beauty on the night before Easter Morning.

 

Christian monks and hermits, and knights through the [[Middle Ages]] kept vigil the night before taking their final [[vow]]s or receiving from the sovereign the ''accolade'' (knighting), or before setting forth on some great mission or task.

[[Saint]]s and [[Mysticism|mystics]] in a variety of religious traditions often voluntarily keep long vigils for the purpose of self-denial of the body, and to seek visions of transcendent reality or personal experiences and revelations of God. The [[India|Indian]] prince [[Siddhartha Gautama|Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha]] in his search for enlightenment repeatedly kept extraordinarily extended vigils, and [[fasting|fasted]] to such an extreme over a period of years that his spine was visible through the skin in the front of his abdomen. He reached the conclusion that such severe methods do not bring one closer to spiritual freedom or enlightenment.

[[Saint]]s and [[Mysticism|mystics]] in a variety of religious traditions often voluntarily keep long vigils for the purpose of self-denial of the body, and to seek visions of transcendent reality or personal experiences and revelations of God. The [[India|Indian]] prince [[Siddhartha Gautama|Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha]] in his search for enlightenment repeatedly kept extraordinarily extended vigils, and [[fasting|fasted]] to such an extreme over a period of years that his spine was visible through the skin in the front of his abdomen. He reached the conclusion that such severe methods do not bring one closer to spiritual freedom or enlightenment.