Tiên Thường 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: ………………………………………………………………………………… Residing at: …………………………………………………………………………………. Today is the …………… day of the ……………. month, year ……………………………… The main death anniversary day of ………………………………………………………………………… We humbly reflect…………………. 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 prepare offerings with sincere heart, lighting incense of devotion to express the depth of our sincerity. With sincere heart 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 the Spirit-Deities, the Earth Deity, 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!