Sample prayer text for the lễ Chúc Thực

Lễ Chúc thực (the rite of offering rice to the newly deceased). Every day, two times, morning and evening, from when the coffin is still at home until the 100th-day ceremony (at pagodas: until 49 days)

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Model prayer text for the Chúc Thực ceremony, offering rice to the newly deceased while the coffin is still kept at home or at the funeral house; the person leading the ceremony together with the descendants respectfully reports to the ancestors on both sides and the family's spirits, presents the deceased's spirit tablet, offers rice, soup, tea and water, and asks the ancestors to guide and protect the spirit so it may be at peace.

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

Fill in before the rite

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Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

7 more blanks

How it differs from the common version

Modern prose, much shorter: there is no long lament in the văn tế style ("Nhân sinh tại thế..."), only a respectful report of the rice offering before the coffin and an invitation to the deceased to partake.

The common version: Prayer text for the lễ Chúc Thực (offering rice while the coffin is still kept at home)

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Lễ Chúc thực (the rite of offering rice to the newly deceased)

Other texts for Lễ Chúc thực (the rite of offering rice to the newly deceased)

Collected text. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

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

More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.