Prayer text for bao sái bàn thờ after the offering to Ông Công and Ông Táo (asking permission before cleaning and trimming the incense sticks)

Bao sái bàn thờ (cleaning and rearranging the altar). In the twelfth lunar month, usually after the offering to Ông Công and Ông Táo on the 23rd and before the year-end offering

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Prayer asking permission from the deities and ancestors before cleaning the altar and thinning out the incense sticks, recited during the rite of bao sái bàn thờ after the offering to Ông Công and Ông Táo; the tín chủ (the person making the offering) states name, address, date and asks the deities to temporarily withdraw so the purification may be complete, praying for the incense table to be in its proper place, the household to dwell in peace, the wealth store not to be disturbed and the fortune store not to be depleted.

The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.

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Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Bao sái bàn thờ (cleaning and rearranging the altar)

Other texts for Bao sái bàn thờ (cleaning and rearranging the altar)

More about Bao sái bàn thờ (cleaning and rearranging the altar)

Nhật Nguyệt articles on the rite, the custom and how to prepare.

The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

Sources

  • Văn khấn bao sái bàn thờ sau khi cúng ông Công ông Táo (baohatinh.vn)

Part of the open dataset Vietnamese offering prayers (văn cúng), licensed CC BY 4.0.

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