Main Death Anniversary Prayer — to the Family Ancestors

Namo Amitābha Buddha! Namo Amitābha Buddha! Namo Amitābha Buddha! - I bow to the nine directions of Heaven, the ten directions of all Buddhas, the Buddhas of the ten directions. - I respectfully bow to August Heaven and Sovereign Earth and all the venerable deities. - I respectfully bow to the Eastern Kitchen Sovereign of Destiny, Lord of the Kitchen Court. - I respectfully bow to the spirit-deities and Earth Deity overseeing this region. - I respectfully bow to the ancestors of the family …………………………………………………………………………. The faithful (we) are: …………………………………………………………………… Residing at: …………………………………………………………………………………. Today is the …………… day of the …………….month, year ……………………………… Is the main Cát Kỵ of ………………………………………………………………………… We humbly reflect…………………. (long preamble) so far gone from this mortal world that we no longer see your form. Through years and months we come again to your remembrance day. Your boundless kindness was as great as Heaven and the seas; the meaning of your having given us birth and nurture we never forget. The more we remember the kindness of your founding our family, the more deeply we feel — but cannot adequately express. Tomorrow is the Cát Kỵ; today, we and our whole family of descendants sincerely prepare offerings: betel and areca, incense, flowers, tea, fruit; lighting incense of devotion presented before the altar with sincere reverence we respectfully invite ……………………………………………………………………… Who passed away on the …………….. day of the …………………. month, year …………………………………….. With grave at: ………………………………………………………………………….. We humbly ask the spirit to descend in sacred power to the spirit-seat, bear witness to our sincerity, partake of these offerings, and shelter the descendants — granting peace, all things good, family prosperity. We also respectfully invite the ancestors of both paternal and maternal sides, the High Ancestors and Ancestresses, the uncles and brothers, aunts and sisters, and all the spirits of the lineage to come together and partake. The faithful also respectfully invites Thổ Công, the Kitchen Gods, and all the spirit-deities to come together and bear witness from above. The faithful also invites the spirits of former and latter occupants of this house and land to come and partake together. We offer modest gifts with sincere hearts; we humbly ask to be sheltered and supported. Namo Amitābha Buddha! Namo Amitābha Buddha! Namo Amitābha Buddha! According to traditional Vietnamese custom, ancestral death anniversary days are always honored. The ordinary death anniversary — Cát Kỵ — is the commemoration of the day the person passed away. This is the most important matter in serving the ancestors. Descendants must remember this day to fulfill their duty to the departed. From the time of reporting on Tiên Thường until the end of the next day, incense is always lit on the altar. Use a pig's head or ox head to offer to Thổ Công on the death anniversary. Guests coming to share the meal may bring offerings: gold paper money and incense, betel and wine, tea and candles, flowers and fruit. When guests arrive, the descendants should receive the offering and place it on the altar before the guest performs the rite. Guests bow before the altar: 4 prostrations and 3 bows. The head of household stands and returns the courtesy. After bowing at the altar, the guest turns and bows to the host returning the courtesy. After laying out the trays and lighting incense, the head of household, properly dressed, steps onto the mat laid before the altar to prepare the rite. The head of household stands straight, palms together raised to the forehead, bends the body and bows down, places the joined hands on the mat, lowers the head onto the joined hands (the prostration posture), then raises the head and trunk straight again, simultaneously drawing the right knee onto the mat to prepare to stand, the joined hands still pressing on the right knee as one stands up. After the head of household, descendants, friends, and guests have completed the rite, when the three rounds of incense are exhausted, the head of household gives the closing thanks, burns the prayer text and the votive paper, and asks for the blessed offerings to be taken down. Finally, the head of household sets the table, lays out the trays, and invites the lineage and guests to share the death-anniversary meal, recalling memories of the departed and asking after one another. Text for Giỗ Hết (Đại Tường) Rite 1. Meaning: The Giỗ Hết — also called "Đại Tường" — is the death anniversary that falls 2 years and 3 months after the death. Giỗ Hết is still a death anniversary within the mourning period. The Giỗ Hết is usually performed more solemnly, and after this anniversary, the family removes mourning attire, also called "hết tang" (end of mourning). After Giỗ Hết, an auspicious month and day will be chosen to perform the Cải Cát rite, transferring the grave for the deceased. From the third year onward, the death anniversary becomes an ordinary anniversary or "Cát Kỵ." For this reason some say, "Giỗ Hết is the most important of all death anniversaries for the deceased." It is most important because it marks a turning point in the lives of the living and for the spirit of the departed. For the living, one returns to ordinary daily life and may participate in social organizations and gatherings. By old custom, only after the husband's Giỗ Hết may the wife remarry. 2. Preparations: Giỗ Hết is usually held solemnly with: votive paper, incense, flowers, oản cakes, seasonal fruit, and a meat offering tray with full dishes including pork, shrimp, crab, sticky rice, chicken, etc.