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Encyclopediavigilvigil (vij'ul) [key][Lat.,=watch], in Christian calendars, eve of a feast, a day of penitential preparation. In ancient times worshipers gathered for vespers before a great feast and then waited outside the church until dawn for the liturgy (Mass). Traces of this practice survive in the East, but the Western Church abolished it early because of disorders in the night watch. The Roman liturgy assigns a proper Mass for the vigil of each important older feast; two of them, Holy Saturday (Easter Eve) and the vigil of Pentecost, have special ceremonies. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. More on vigil from Infoplease:
- Walt Whitman: Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night - Vigil strange I kept on the field one night; When you my son and my comrade dropt at my side that day, One look I but gave which your dear eyes return
- What does it mean? - vigilant --Listen to the pronunciation: WAV format or AU format A vigilant babysitter watches ...
- Twelfth Night - Twelfth Night Twelfth Night, Jan. 5, the vigil or eve of Epiphany, so called because it is the 12th ...
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