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Vigil Lamp
The oil lamp that burns continuously before icons — an image of unceasing prayer and watchful attention.
The vigil lamp (kandela agrypnias, sleepless lamp) is the oil lamp burning day and night before the icon of Christ or the Theotokos — in churches, in monasteries, and in Orthodox homes. It images the prayer that should never cease: 'Pray without ceasing' (1 Thessalonians 5:17). The monk who maintains his vigil lamp maintains his prayer. In Russia, the custom of lighting a lamp before the home icon corner (krasny ugol, beautiful corner) expresses the domestic church — every Orthodox home as a little church with its own continuous prayer.