Goods And Vigils

Μέγιστον ἀγαθόν ἐστιν ἡ ἀγρυπνία τοῖς ἀποσείεσθαι τὸν γείτονα θανάτου ὕπνον προαιρουμένοις, καὶ τοσούτῳ μέγα, ὅσῳ καὶ ὁ Δεσπότης αὐτὸς, τοῦτο μετελήλυθε, καὶ ᾠκειώσατο ἐν τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ τῇ κατὰ σάρκα, ὥς φησι καὶ ὁ Λουκᾶς, ὅτι Ἤν Ἰησοῦς διανυκτερεύων ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ, διδάσκων ἡμᾶς δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἔργου ἀκολουθεῖν τοῖς ἴχνεσιν τοῦ Διδασκάλου. Διόπερ καὶ ἔλεγεν· Γρηγορεῖτε καὶ προσεύχεσθε, ἵνα μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς πειρασμόν. Οἱ δὲ γε περὶ Παῦλον καὶ Σίλαν, τὸ κέρδος οὐκ ἀγνοοῦντες τῆς ἀγρυπνίας, περὶ τὸ μεσονύκτιον ἐδόξαζον τὸν Θεόν. Καὶ Δαυὶδ φησίν· Ἠγρύπνησα, καὶ ἐγενόμην ὡς στρουθίον μονάζον ἐπὶ δώματος, ἤγουν εὔπτρεον, οὐκ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς συρόμενον, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τοῦ δώματος, καὶ τοῦ ὕψους τῆς ἀρετῆς διαιτώμενον. Γλώττῃ γὰρ ἰκετηρίῳ ἀντὶ τῶν χειρῶν μου τοῖς τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ ἀοράτοις ποσὶ περιεπλεκόμεην κλαίων, καὶ ἡ πηλώδης μου καρδία κειμήλιον γέγονεν ἀργυροῦν, ἤ χρυσοῦν, καὶ θυσιαστήριον πάλιν Κυρίου ἀπειργάσθην ὁ ταπεινὸς ἄνθρωπος, ἀνασκαλευούσης τῆς χάριτος ἐν ἐμοὶ τοὺς γνώσεως ἄνθρακας, καὶ θυσίαν εὐώδη Θεῷ ἀναφερούσης. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΚΗ’ Τιμοθεῳ Ὑποδιακονῳ Source: Migne PG 79.95c

A vigil is a great good for those who have chosen to cut off any proximity of the sleep of death, and it is of such greatness that the Lord Himself entered into it, and Himself practised it while in the condition of the flesh, even as Luke says: 'Jesus spent the night in prayer to God.' 1 instructing us with this work to follow the footsteps of the teacher. Whence He said, 'Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.' 2 And those who were with Paul and Silas were not left ignorant of the benefit of vigils, for they praised God in the middle of the night. 3 And David says: 'I kept watch, and I was made like a sparrow alone on a rooftop.' 4 not making use of wings, nor dragging them on the earth, but remaining on the rooftop, the height of virtue. For with the supplicant tongue alternating with my hands, and feet folded up feet to concealment, I cry out to the benevolent God, that the clay of my heart become a treasury for silver or gold, and again that a humble man be made a sacrificial altar of the Lord, and grace dig up the flaming coal of wisdom, and bear off a fragrant sacrifice to God. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 28, to Timotheus the Subdeacon 1 Lk 6.12 2 Mt 26.41 3 Acts 16.25 4 Ps 101.8