What Is Vigil in the Bible?
Feast
The celebration on the night before a great feast. The most important one is the Easter Vigil, on Holy Saturday.
It can mean
- The mother of all vigils: the Easter Vigil is the “mother of all holy vigils.” It is celebrated at night, after dark.
- Vigil Mass: some solemnities have their Mass on the evening before.
- In the Bible: to keep watch is to stay awake, waiting. Jesus asked his disciples to watch and pray.
Where it appears in the Bible
Matthew 26:41; Matthew 25:13
What the Bible says
Matthew 26:41
Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak.
Matthew 25:13
Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: RAE, “vigilia”; Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, 11 and 21