Oratio Imperata

[2] The prayers are customarily invoked by an archdiocese on behalf of overwhelming popular requests, and is authorised by a high-ranking prelate or Metropolitan Archbishop.

[3] The customary tradition of reciting such prayers is rooted in Apostolic age, when lay people asked the help and assistance of their bishops in the time of natural calamity, war, or any grave public danger to society.

[5] The invocative prayers prescribed as Oratio Imperata: In very rare cases of enduring public calamities lasting a longer time, (i,e.

The most commonly authorized prayer is Oratio Imperata Ad Fluviam Petendam, in hopes of asking for rain in times of severe drought.

[7] Obligatory prayers were also instructed by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines to be recited during the COVID-19 pandemic on selected regional radio and television stations[8][9] as well as amidst escalating geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea.