A crucial but forgotten part of living a liturgical life as a Catholic is living the vigils of the liturgical year.

What Are Vigils?

Some feasts have vigils associated with them. The term “vigil” is used in several ways. It most properly refers to an entire day before a major feast day (e.g., the Vigil of Christmas, which refers to the entire day of December 24). This kind of vigil is a liturgical day in itself and marks the following day as a day of greater liturgical significance. This is the proper meaning of a vigil. In a similar way the Catechism of Perseverance, published in 1849, states: “The word vigil signifies watching. The vigils are the days of abstinence and fast which precede the great festivals of the year. There are five; those of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Assumption, and All Saints. In some dioceses the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul is also preceded by a vigil.”

NB: A Mass using the Sunday propers that is anticipated (i.e., offered) on a Saturday evening is sometimes, though incorrectly, called a vigil. This practice, however, is a post-Vatican II novelty and not part of Catholic Tradition, so I counsel Catholics to never attend such “vigil Masses” on Saturday evenings.

How Are Vigils Observed?

There are two characteristics of vigils: penance and prayer.

As to penance, many liturgical vigils, if not all, were originally also days of fasting and abstinence. Over time, the fasting and abstinence was dropped from many. By the time of the Catechism of Perseverance, there were only a few such vigils. But the days of fasting and abstinence differed – including on vigils – in various places.

For instance, by 1893, the only fasting days kept in Rome were the forty days of Lent, the Ember Days, and the vigils of the Purification, of Pentecost, of St. John the Baptist, of Ss. Peter and Paul, of the Assumption, of All Saints, and of Christmas. This is summarized from the Handbook to Christian and Ecclesiastical Rome. In just a few years, Rome would abrogate the fast on the Vigil of the Purification and on the Vigil of St. John the Baptist. By the 1917 Code of Canon Law, fasting vigils were decreased universally to only four days: vigils of Pentecost, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,[1] All Saints, and Christmas. These are what Americans at that time were aware of, but previously there were differing vigils.

By 1917, there were however still many other liturgical vigils on the calendar that were not obligatory days of abstinence at that time. For instance, before the changes to the Roman Rite liturgical calendar in 1955, nearly all feasts of the Apostles were preceded by a vigil. And the Church put those days in place to help us prepare for the importance of the feast of an Apostle, since all feasts of the Apostles were in former times Holy Days of Obligation.

We have lost the importance of the feast days of the Apostles, I believe, in part due to losing the vigils. We can change that for ourselves by observing those feast days in our own prayer lives. And the same is true for the Vigil of All Saints (i.e., Halloween), a traditional day when we would fast and abstain from meat, but which is neither found in the Novus Ordo calendar nor even in the 1962 Missal.[2] Hence, any of the older vigils (e.g., the Vigil of St. Lawrence, the Vigil of Epiphany, the Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, etc.) can, and arguably should, be observed with fasting and abstinence even if they are not obliged under penalty of sin.[3]

The second key feature of vigils is prayer.

The Catechism of Perseverance explains this aspect well:

“How should we spend the vigils? Whatever be our age, we should spend those days in a more holy manner than other days, in order to prepare for the celebration of the festival and to receive the graces which God always gives more abundantly at that time.”

Praying an extra Rosary, making time for mental prayer, and even praying into the evening as the vigil becomes the feast day itself are all worthwhile practices to make vigils slightly more penitential and all the more prayerful.

While we know that Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation should be spent in prayer, attendance at Holy Mass, and in avoidance of servile work, we often pay little mind to vigils since the Church over the past several decades has virtually eliminated them. But we must honor Our Lady of Fatima’s call for penance and can model our example after that of our forefathers who observed the vigils in preparation for the feast.

Observe the Remaining Vigils This Year

Here are the upcoming vigils for the remainder of this year that I recommend we observe with prayer, fasting, and abstinence:[4]

• October 31: Vigil of All Saints
• November 29: Vigil of St. Andrew
• December 7: Vigil of the Immaculate Conception
• December 20: Vigil of St. Thomas the Apostle
• December 24: Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

You will also find these privileged days of prayer and penance in The Fatima Center’s devotional calendar.

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[1] On July 25, 1957, Pope Pius XII moved the fast in the Universal Church from the Vigil of the Assumption to the Vigil of the Immaculate Conception on December 7, even though he had previously abrogated the Mass for the Vigil of the Immaculate Conception.

[2] 1955 saw some of the most significant changes to the Church’s liturgy since the Council of Trent. Pope Pius XII, in Cum nostra hac ætate on March 23, 1955, abolished 15 Octaves in addition to the Octave for the Dedication of a Church, and particular octaves for patrons of various religious orders, countries, dioceses, etc. He also abolished roughly half of all vigils, leading to the removal of the liturgical vigils of the Immaculate Conception, Epiphany, All Saints, and All apostles, but not Ss. Peter and Paul. The total number of liturgical vigils was now reduced to seven.

Uncertainty existed on whether or not fasting was still required on October 31st, the Vigil of All Saints (commonly called Halloween). The U.S. bishops requested an official determination from Rome on whether the custom of fasting and abstinence on the suspended Vigil of All Saints had also been terminated. They received a pre-printed notice in a response dated March 15, 1957, stating: “The Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites … looks simply to the liturgical part of the day and does not touch the obligation of fast and abstinence that are a penitential preparation for the following feast day.” The U.S. bishops thereafter dispensed both the fast and partial abstinence law for the Vigil of All Saints.

[3] For example, the popular St. Andrew Missal, based on the liturgical calendar used in 1945, notes these vigils.

[4] Using the rationale that was in place prior to the 1917 Code, if a vigil falls on a Sunday, it is anticipated and observed on Saturday. This helps us prepare for Sunday and then for the feast day that will in that year inevitably fall on the Monday.

The post How to Observe Vigils in the Liturgical Year  first appeared on The Fatima Center.

These views are those of the Fatima Center and do not necessarily reflect the views of Immaculata South Africa

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Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.