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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. 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 Siddartha Gautama the [[Buddha]] in his search for enlightenment had [[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 [[Siddartha Gautama|Siddartha Gautama the Buddha]] in his search for enlightenment had [[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.

St. Paul cautioned against such practices in his letter to the [[Colossians]] 2:23. He himself frequently kept vigils of prayer for the church ([[2 Corinthians]] 11:27).

St. Paul cautioned against such practices in his letter to the [[Colossians]] 2:23. He himself frequently kept vigils of prayer for the church ([[2 Corinthians]] 11:27).