Orthodox Christianity: Why We Pray For the Reposed

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>>Why do Orthodox Christians pray and give alms for the dead? For many different reasons. Here are a few of them:

This has been an ongoing and uninterrupted practice from the earliest centuries of the Christian Church. Death does not destroy the bond between Christians. On the contrary, as the Scriptures say, “Love is strong as death.” (Song of Songs 8:6). That is, the bond of agape between Christians overcomes the limits of death. For the Christian, “death is no more.” Therefore, just as we are united by the bond of prayer on earth, so all the more should we unite ourselves by the bond of prayer to those who have gone to the life in the other world.
We know from the testimony found in the Lives of the Saints and the writings of the Fathers that the prayers and alms of the Church help those who have gone before us.

Do the prayers of the Church really help the departed? Here is what our Holy Father, St. Nektarios of Aegina (+1920) says about those who have died:

“The Partial Judgment, to which all men are subjected after death, is by no means complete and final, wherefore it naturally follows that they await another, complete and final judgment. During the Partial Judgment, only the soul of man receives its retribution, not the body as well, even though the latter shared with the soul its deeds, good or evil. After the Partial Judgment, the righteous in Heaven and the sinners in Hades have only a foretaste of the blessedness or punishments which they deserve. Finally, after this Partial Judgment some of the sinners will be relieved of the burden of the punishment and will be completely delivered from the sufferings of Hades, not through their own action, but through the prayers of the Church.” (from The Oecumenical Synods of the Church of Christ, by Met. Nektarios [Kephalas], p. 222).

Exactly how our prayers help the departed faithful is unknown to us; it is a mystery of God’s providential care for man that we dare not pry into. But that the prayers of the Church, especially the Divine Liturgy, help the departed, was never questioned by anyone for the first 1,500 years of Christian history!<<

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"Dear brothers and sisters, let us think upon our own sinful lives! Will we die in true repentance, cleansed of all our sins? Are we so sure that we deserve Paradise? Is it not true that, after death, we may very well need someone to pray for us? Let us, then frequently offer sacred Liturgies and Memorials, as well as give donations to the Church and alms to the needy for the sake of the dead, so that, when we die, someone will do this for us:

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy!"

Attributed to Fr. Andreas

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