Prayer Guide

The inside of the Temple, with priests and followers.

Description

This is the transcript of a document which was created by the College of Pontiffs (then Chief Priest Astra Vera Sol and Chief Priest Cinna Lucretia Cento) for the citizens of Rome, giving them easy-to-remember prayers they could say whenever they wished to worship the Roman gods.

Prayer Guide

Orationis Liber

This manuscript serves as a suggested collection of prayers for all members of the republic of Rome.

I: Prayer of Retribution

I offer the person who stole my item to the most holy [name of deity]. Whether they be man or woman, slave or free, may the god [name of deity] hound them to utter ruin and allow them no sleep and no offspring, now or yet to come, until they return my item to the temple of thine power.

II: Prayer of Offering

To our divine pantheon, please accept this offering. Please take this as a sign of our ceaseless devotion to the land you have so graciously crafted for us. We will continue the temporary stewardship gifted to us by the gods over these golden plains and cresting waves.

III: Prayer of Offering (II)

To our blessed pantheon, I thrust myself at thine altar. Please accept this most humble offering at thine door. May thou find my faith holy and my spirit clean. May my devotion be found in the cracks and crevices of my offering, and may thine divine will guide me rightly.

IV: Prayer of Healing

With potent herbs do I now intercede; and to your majesty make my appeal: they were made by Mother Earth, and given as a gift for all. We beg that all mankind may find your favor and that you may provide aid most serviceable. Please provide sound healing for health's sake. I shall set forth the produce of the fields for you and return thanks through the name of the gods.

V: Prayer of Wellness

Hear me, [name of deity], I pray and beseech thee that thou be gracious and merciful to me, my house, and my household; to my ground, my farm; that thou keep away, ward off, and remove sickness, seen and unseen, barrenness and destruction, ruin and unseasonable influence; and that thou permit my harvests, my grain, and my vine-yards to flourish. Preserve in health my shepherds and my flocks, and give good health and strength to me, my house and my household.

VI: Prayer of Arms

Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno Regina, and You virtuous dancer, Minerva, Concordia of the bereaved, Victoria of the Romans, grant this meeting of the Senate of the Roman people, grant these Roman soldiers, and those soldiers of our allies and of friendly foreign nations as well, that they will serve as he commands.

VII: Prayer to Patron Deity

Hail to you, [name of deity]! To you, Father Jupiter, I pay tribute at the start of this ceremony, with good prayers and good heart, freely, offering you this portion of incense I now pour into the flames, hoping you look kindly on this house and those who dwell in it. And to you, [name of deity], I offer also this libation of wine I now pour into the flames, asking you to testify and sanctify this ceremony, oh High God.

VIII: Offering of Wine

I thank you for your attention and blessing and offer you still, with good prayers and good heart, this portion of wine I now pour into the fire, in grateful tribute to you.

IX: Prayer of Eternal Sleep

O’God, may you guide with your staff the soul of [name of deceased], who is a child of this earth. Guide them to the afterworld, the pure place with wondrous light, and filled with joyful voices and dance, with hushed sacred sounds and holy images.

X: Prayer of Reprisal (Vulcan)

Holy Vulcan, foremost of this place, to You we pray. Grant peace to the exhausted fire brigades and to those who service the fountains. If none are harmed so very much, if the flames You permit to assault only a few deplorable souls, Holy One, then at each of your altars they will sing your praises, three times, three times they will pour libations and make thick with incense Your altar fires piled high with fruitful boughs.

XI: Prayer of Wellbeing (Apollo)

O’ Apollo, whose light embraces the world, you orbit forever returning, your face glowing on each day, your horses harnessed as a team to drive your chariot, with manes braided they rise high, passing over clouds as you reign their frothing fires. Already yet another year begins, measured by the footsteps of brothers, who as new consuls gladly offer their prayers and vows.

XII: Prayer of Respite

Grant, O Gods, that the earth may lie soft and gently upon the shades of our ancestors, and may their urns be filled with a perpetual springtime blooming with the sweet scents of crocus.