Prayer text for the year-end tomb-visiting rite (without sutra chanting)

Tạ mộ cuối năm (year-end grave visit and invitation of the ancestors for Tết). Twelfth lunar month, usually from the 20th to the 30th, mostly after the 23rd

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Buddhist

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Prayer text for the year-end tomb-visiting rite without sutra chanting, respectfully addressing the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the community of noble ones, inviting the heavenly beings, the spirits governing the cemetery, and the spirit of the deceased; the disciple offers pure food, makes a vow of merit, dedicates the merit for the family's peace and for the liberation of the spirits.

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

Fill in before the rite

Your name and address appear in the prayer below and are kept on this device only.

Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

7 more blanks

(Tụng. Mõ, chuông)

(Chủ sám)

[Nếu thỉnh hương linh về nhà thì bạch: Gia đình cũng xin thỉnh mời hương linh gia tiên họ {ho_toc} cùng các hương linh có tên (đọc tên hương linh mời về nhà) {nguoi_duoc_cung} vào ngày {ngay_am} tháng {thang_am} năm {nam_can_chi} về gia đình ở tại {dia_chi} để thọ hưởng phần hiến cúng của gia đình.]

(Hạ lễ)

How it differs from the common version

Refers to oneself as "đệ tử", addresses "hương linh"; invokes the heavenly beings and the spirits in charge of the cemetery; does not list votive offerings, does not burn votive paper; includes a passage inviting the hương linh home for Tết in square brackets.

The common version: Prayer text for the year-end tomb-visiting rite, recited at the grave (according to Văn khấn cổ truyền Việt Nam)

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Tạ mộ cuối năm (year-end grave visit and invitation of the ancestors for Tết)

Other texts for Tạ mộ cuối năm (year-end grave visit and invitation of the ancestors for Tết)

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.