What is a wake?
A wake is a watch or vigil kept over the body of a person who has died, before the burial. Britannica describes it as a vigil that is sometimes accompanied by festivity, and traditionally the mourners stayed awake to watch over the body the night before the burial.
The custom is very old. Britannica says that in England it seems to be older than Christianity and was at first essentially Celtic, probably rooted in a fear that evil spirits might harm or remove the body. The Anglo-Saxons called it lich-wake, from their word for a corpse, and the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica traces the word wake to the Anglo-Saxon wacan, to wake or watch. Christianity added prayer to the vigil. After the Reformation the custom died out in England but survived in Ireland.
Today a wake overlaps with a viewing or visitation. Britannica notes that a wake can begin days before a burial, while a viewing tends to be shorter and often takes place right before the funeral service. In the Catholic Church the wake is the Vigil for the Deceased, which the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops says usually takes place during visitation and viewing at the funeral home. The Diocese of Manchester calls it the principal rite between death and the funeral liturgy and says it may be held in a funeral home, the parish church or the home.
The sources behind this answer
- Britannica defines a wake as a watch or vigil held over the body of a dead person before burial, sometimes accompanied by festivity. Encyclopaedia Britannica, wake
- Britannica says a wake traditionally involved mourners staying awake to watch over the body the night before burial. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Why Is the Vigil Before a Burial Called a Wake?
- Britannica says the custom of waking a corpse in England seems older than Christianity, was at first Celtic, likely arose from fear of evil spirits harming the body, and was called lich-wake by the Anglo-Saxons. Encyclopaedia Britannica, wake
- Britannica says the custom of waking became obsolete in England after the Reformation but survived in Ireland, and that many peoples have an equivalent custom. Encyclopaedia Britannica, wake
- The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica traces the word wake to the Anglo-Saxon wacan, meaning to wake or watch. 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica (Wikisource)
- Britannica says a wake can begin days before a burial, while a viewing tends to be shorter and often takes place immediately before the funeral service. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Why Is the Vigil Before a Burial Called a Wake?
- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops calls the Catholic Vigil Service the wake and says it usually takes place during visitation and viewing at the funeral home. USCCB, An Overview of Catholic Funeral Rites
- The Catholic Diocese of Manchester describes the Vigil for the deceased, commonly known as the wake, as the principal rite between death and the funeral liturgy, held in a church, funeral home or home. Diocese of Manchester, Catholic Funeral Rites
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