The vigil will be served on the night of Friday, August 30, and into the morning of Saturday, August 31. August 31 is the feast day of St Eanswythe of Folkestone, the Patroness of our Capital Campaign, and, with that vigil, we will also begin gathering the information for our Three Year Pledges.
A vigil is a series of services that are offered back to back; typically that’s done at night. Most of us are familiar with the Paschal Vigil, which is simply The Midnight Office, Orthros, and the Divine Liturgy all run together. However, for special saints and special occasions, it’s customary to also offer a vigil—and, for our parish, Eanswythe of Folkestone is definitely one of our favorite saints, and the only occasion that will be more exciting than kicking off fund-raising for our new temple will be the completion and consecration of that new facility. So offering a vigil just makes sense.
Here is the specific schedule for the services that will begin on the night of Friday, August 30th:
11:00 pm - Little Compline with the Canon of Preparation for Holy Communion and the Akathist Hymn
Around 11:50pm - Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia
Around 12:50am - Festal Orthros
Around 2:35am - Divine Liturgy (which will wrap up about 4am on Saturday, August 31)
And, no, you don’t have to stay up all night. Vigils are designed to be come and go events. However, since this series of services is going to be so very historic, you are, for sure, going to want to be able to tell your godchildren and grandchildren that you were there. And let’s be honest: There’s no reason why single folks can’t stay up all night on a Friday. And as far as folks with families are concerned, one parent can represent the whole family while the other stays home with the children. Bottom line: This just isn’t something you want to miss.
And don’t forget: We’ve already put our new St Eanswythe Reliquary on display back during the Pascha Book Study, but, during her Vigil, we will open the reliquary up. That means you will be able to reverence the cloth that was blessed on our Patroness’ skull, and that will be a wonderful opportunity to intercede, not only for all those that you love, but also for the quick completion of our new temple.