Home| Latíné | Deutsch | Español | Français | Italiano | Magyar | Português | Română | Русский | English

Cn. Lentulus offers a corona, a garland or wreath on an altar at the reconstructed Roman villa of the Carnuntum Museum. Coronae were the regular decorative offerings to the Lares on the Kalends, Nones, and Ides.

These are modern rituals for cultores of the religio Romana to perform on the Ides at their lararium. The Ides are sacred to Jupiter, but the Lar Familiaris is also celebrated on each Kalends, Nones and Ides as protector of the home, and traditionally Romans decorated their lararium with garlands and wreaths as an offering to the Lar. Accordingly, these restored Ides rituals below specially address Jupiter and the offering of wreaths and garlands to the Lar Familiaris. These Ides rituals are intended for private and domestic worship, and replace the basic daily rituals, so they are practically extended versions of the daily rituals used for the Ides. They are modelled on the prayers found in Cato's De Agricultura and various prayers found on imperial era inscriptions (for example, the Acta Ludorum Saecularium). The rituals should be performed; if possible, in a clean tunica and toga for males, for females in tunica, stola and palla. The toga or palla should be draped capite velato, so as to veil the performer from any and all ill omens that might present themselves in the course of the ritual. It is acceptable to perform this ritual in a more casual manner, without toga and in a cloak instead (e. g. lacerna), or even just in tunica, or even in modern clothes.

You may find more information on household worship in our article on simple rituals for starters.

Opening of the Ides ritual

• If others attend, say the following opening expression, but if you pray alone, it is not needed:

Be favorable by your tongues!

Favete linguis!

• Wash both hands in clean salted water and say:

Father Janus, be blessed.

Iane pater, macte esto.

• Approach the lararium capite velato, ignite the fire on your lararium, for example a lucerna, then say:

Mother Vesta, be blessed.

Vesta mater, macte esto.

• Perform the adoratio, then you can start the invocations and prayers.

Closing of the Ides ritual

• Extinguish the fire on your lararium, and say:

Mother Vesta, be blessed.

Vesta Mater, macte esto.

Father Janus, be blessed.

Iane pater, macte esto.

• This is the end of the ritual. Perform the adoratio, and if others attend, say the following closing expression, but if you pray alone, it is not needed:

You can go!

Ilicet!

Shortened Ides rituals

Shortened Ides morning ritual

Shortened Ides evening ritual

The evening ritual should be performed only if you have already done a standalone (or midday) ritual, or if you specifically want to ask the gods' protection for the night. Otherwise, if your first Ides prayer that day is made in the evening, use the standalone Ides ritual.

Shortened standalone Ides ritual, or midday ritual, without morning and evening rites

Full length Ides rituals

Ides morning ritual

Ides evening ritual

The evening ritual should be performed only if you have already done a standalone (or midday) ritual, or if you specifically want to ask the gods' protection for the night. Otherwise, if your first Ides prayer that day is made in the evening, use the standalone Ides ritual.

Ides standalone ritual, or midday ritual, without morning and evening rites

This ritual should be performed if you can do only one domestic ritual on a specific day, and you don't do a separate morning and night ritual that day. If, at the evening, you get a chance to perform the evening ritual, you are free to do that, too: this standalone or midday ritual doesn't inhibit the possibility for performing either or both the morning and the evening rituals, as well. If you want to do morning ritual but you are late and it is already afternoon, you should do this midday ritual instead of the morning Ides ritual.