Daily Ancestorvigilia
Vigilia is Latin for a watch or vigil, and in dates the eve of a feast, the day before it.
Vigilia means a watch or vigil, wakefulness, and in Roman use one of the four watches of the night. The BYU glossary also gives eve.
In church dates, in vigilia with the name of a feast means on the eve of that feast. Find the date of the feast for that year in a calendar and count back one day.
As seen in a recordLatin baptism register, Bohemia, 1700s
Natus in vigilia Sancti Joannis Baptistae
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "vigilia." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/latin/vigilia. Last checked 2026-10-12.