exemplo do web.xml para VRaptor com JPA direto.

web.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app id="WebApp_ID" version="2.5"
	xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd">
	<display-name>controle-propriedade</display-name>
	
  	<context-param>  
        <description>VRaptor handles HTTP requests in UTF-8 format</description>  
        <param-name>br.com.caelum.vraptor.encoding</param-name>  
        <param-value>UTF-8</param-value>  
    </context-param>
	
	<context-param>
		<param-name>locales</param-name>
		<param-value>en,pt_BR</param-value>
	</context-param>
	
	<context-param>
	        <param-name>br.com.caelum.vraptor.packages</param-name>
	        <param-value>br.com.caelum.vraptor.util.jpa</param-value>
	</context-param>
	<filter>
        <filter-name>vraptor</filter-name>
        <filter-class>br.com.caelum.vraptor.VRaptor</filter-class>
    </filter>
    
    <context-param>
    	<param-name>javax.servlet.jsp.jstl.fmt.localizationContext</param-name>
    	<param-value>messages</param-value>
    </context-param>

    <filter-mapping>
        <filter-name>vraptor</filter-name>
        <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
        <dispatcher>FORWARD</dispatcher>
        <dispatcher>REQUEST</dispatcher>
    </filter-mapping>
    
    <session-config>
    	<session-timeout>40</session-timeout>
    </session-config>
</web-app>