Prayer to Vesta
Vesta
O Vesta, guardian of the Romans' city, if, during the space of nearly thirty years, I have performed the sacred offices to thee in a holy and proper manner, keeping a pure mind and a chaste body, do thou manifest thyself in my defence and assist me and do not suffer thy priestess to die the most miserable of all deaths; but if I have been guilty of any impious deed, let my punishment expiate the guilt of the city.
Fons · Source
AuthorDionysius of Halicarnassus
WorkRoman Antiquities
SectionII.68.3-5
Period1st c. BC (describing an earlier Republican event of uncertain date)
Occasiondefence of the Vestal Aemilia after the extinction of the sacred flame — plea for divine vindication, followed by the miraculous rekindling of the fire through a linen garment cast upon the altar
Classificatio · Taxonomy
Cultureroman
Formpersonal
DeitiesVesta
Functionspetition · oath
Spherecivic