Why praying for the departed?

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ByzantineDixie

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Below is the Trisagion we say for the dead at our parish (although we do use a slightly different translation).

Trisagion for the Dead

Priest:
Blessed is our God always, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages.

Reader:
Amen. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (3)
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.


All-Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, be gracious unto our sins. Master, pardon our transgressions. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Your Name's sake.


Lord have mercy; Lord have mercy; Lord have mercy.


Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.


Our Father, Who are in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name; Your Kingdom come.
Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.

Priest:
For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, I of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Troparia, Tone 4
With the spirits of the righteous made perfect Give rest to the soul of Your servant, O Savior; And keep it safe in that life of blessedness That is lived with You, O Friend of Man.


In the place of Your rest, O Lord, Where all Your Saints repose, Give rest also to the soul of Your servant, For You alone are immortal.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.


You are our God Who went down to Hades To loose the pains of the dead

that were there; Give rest also to the soul of Your servant, O Savior.


Both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.


O Virgin, alone pure and immaculate that in maiden-motherhood brought forth God, intercede for the salvation of the soul of your servant.

Priest:
Have mercy on us. O God, according to Your great mercy; we pray You, listen and have mercy.


Choir:
Lord have mercy.


Priest:
Again we pray for the repose of the soul of the servant of God (Name), departed this life, and for the forgiveness of his (her) every transgression, voluntary and involuntary.


Choir:
Lord have mercy. Let the Lord God establish his (her) soul where the Just repose; the mercies of God, the Kingdom of the Heavens, and the remission of his (her) sins, let us ask of Christ, our immortal King and our God.
Let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

Priest:
O God of all spirits and of every flesh, Who did trod down death and overcome the devil, bestowing life on this Your world, to the soul of this Your servant (Name), departed this life, do You Yourself, O Lord, give rest in a place of fight, in a place of green pasture, in a place of refreshment, from where pain and sorrow and mourning have fled away. Every sin by him (her) committed in thought, word, or deed, do You as our Good and Loving God forgive; seeing that there is no man who shall live and sin not, for You alone are without sin. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your Law is truth; for You are the Resurrection, the Life, and the Repose of Your servant (Name), departed this life, O Christ our God; and to You do we send up glory, with Your Eternal Father and Your All-Holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit; both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Reader:
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Lord have mercy; Lord have mercy; Lord have mercy. Holy Father Bless.

Priest:
Glory to You, O Christ our God and our Hope; glory to You. May Christ our true God, Who rose from the dead, have mercy on us; He Who as Immortal King has authority over both the dead and the living. Through the intercessions of His spotless, pure and holy Mother; of the holy, glorious, and all;praiseworthy Apostles; of our venerable and Godbearing Fathers; of the holy and glorious forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; of His holy and just friend Lazaros, who lay in the grave four days; and of all the Saints; establish the soul of His servant (Name), departed from us, in the tentings of the Just; give him (her) rest in the bosom of Abraham; and number him (her) among the Just, through His goodness and compassion as our merciful God.


Everlasting be your memory, O our brother, who are worthy of blessedness and eternal memory. (3)

For women:
Everlasting be your memory, O our sister, who are worthy of blessedness and eternal memory.


Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord, Jesus Christ our God, have mercy and save us. Amen.
 
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prodromos

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My apologies for bringing up again a topic which you have already discussed but I am still struggling to understand why Eastern-Orthodox pray for the departed.
Love. We are a communion of love, and as death cannot separate us from the love of God, neither should it separate the departed from our love. Praying for them is one way we can demonstrate our love for them. Doing good works in their name is another.
What do you ask God for for them?
Have mercy on them. Forgive them.
Obviously you do not believe in purgatory, do you? So what is the content of your intercessions for the departed?
We believe that when we die we will receive a foretaste of our ultimate destination after the final judgment at our resurrection. While we are given one life for repentance, after which it is not possible for us to change, it is still within God's power to enable the repentance of someone who has died, through the love of others. God commands us to love one another. This is obedience to God's command.

John
 
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Julina

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My question is why is anyone opposed to praying for the dead? What is the difference between praying for a living person and a dead person in the eyes of a non-Orthodox?
i wonder this same thing. i once heard one of my protestant friends say that after someone dies it's too late to pray for them, and i was just like, what?
 
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ArmyMatt

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yeah, I guess the best reason for why we should pray for the dead is because if God exists outside of time, then it's never too late to make a prayer for anything or anyone. how can something be too late for a timeless God?
 
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Till

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Thanks a lot to everyone, who has replied.


My question is why is anyone opposed to praying for the dead? What is the difference between praying for a living person and a dead person in the eyes of a non-Orthodox?

i wonder this same thing. i once heard one of my protestant friends say that after someone dies it's too late to pray for them, and i was just like, what?

It is because of what John said:

While we are given one life for repentance, after which it is not possible for us to change

So we would tend to think that after physical deaths there is no opportunity for repentance anymore. Therefore intercession for the departed is pointless.

But, John, you went on to say something else:

While we are given one life for repentance, after which it is not possible for us to change, it is still within God's power to enable the repentance of someone who has died, through the love of others.


What do you mean by this? I do not understand it. So you think there is repentance after physical death?
 
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Michael G

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yeah, I guess the best reason for why we should pray for the dead is because if God exists outside of time, then it's never too late to make a prayer for anything or anyone. how can something be too late for a timeless God?

Very well said.
 
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Kristos

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I think it's best not to speculate about the details and mechanism. It should suffice to say that we:

1) Believe in the power of prayer - James 5:16

2) Hope is our anchor - Heb 6:19

3) God is all powerful and ineffable, but He is love - 1John 4:16

Based on that, it would seem un-Christian to ignore the dead in our prayers.
 
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sequins

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Because we do not put God in a box. (Not to be flippant about it)... but the verse you quoted seems more as a warning to the living that God requires some change in us as believers. It really doesn't speak of requirements of salvation before death, and it does not cut us off at death if we failed our goals. This is what prayers for the dead are all about, and that is continuing a good work in those who have passed on prematurely. As stated earlier, that is love.
 
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E.C.

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My apologies for bringing up again a topic which you have already discussed but I am still struggling to understand why Eastern-Orthodox pray for the departed. What do you ask God for for them? Obviously you do not believe in purgatory, do you? So what is the content of your intercessions for the departed?

Many thanks,
Till
The reason why Purgatory exists in Catholicism in the first place is because of that whole "stain of original sin" idea. As Orthodox Christians, we do not have that "stain" idea and thus no purgatory.

We pray that God may have mercy upon the departed and forgive them. Since God is above time, how could one be "too late" to be forgiven? Even with that "too late" idea in mind, most of those with that "too late" ideology tend to lack the sacrament of Confession. That begs the question of if one could even be forgiven in the first place, but I'm beginning to ramble.

We pray for them out of love. The first saint to come to mind is St. Xenia of St. Petersburg. To make a long story short, her husband died before having a chance to confess his sins and was a military officer. She prayed for his soul day and night. In time it was revealed to her that her husband's soul had been forgiven.


My question is why is anyone opposed to praying for the dead? What is the difference between praying for a living person and a dead person in the eyes of a non-Orthodox?
Because they lack love and because they run off of chronos and not kairos.
 
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HandmaidenOfGod

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My apologies for bringing up again a topic which you have already discussed but I am still struggling to understand why Eastern-Orthodox pray for the departed. What do you ask God for for them? Obviously you do not believe in purgatory, do you? So what is the content of your intercessions for the departed?

Many thanks,
Till

The tradition of praying for the dead goes back to the Old Testament. In 2 Maccabees 12:38-44 we read the following:

Then Judas retrieved his army and entered the city of Adullam. As the seventh day was dawning, they purified themselves according to the custom and spent the Sabbath there. The following day, as was now necessary, Judas and his men left to gather up the bodies of those killed in battle, to bring them back to rest with their kindred in the tombs of their forefathers. But under the tunics of each of the dead, they uncovered sacred tokens of the Jamnian idols, which the Jews are forbidden by law to wear. So the reason these men died in battle became clear to everyone. Thus they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous judge, who reveals the hidden things. They turned to supplication and prayed that the sin they had committed might be completely blotted out.

The noble Judas exhorted his people to guard themselves from sin, for with their own eyes they had seen what happened to those who died in battle because of their sin. He then took up an offering from his soldiers amounting to two thousand silver drachmas and sent it to Jerusalem to present as a sin offering. In doing so he acted properly and with honor, taking note of the resurrection. For if he were not looking for the resurrection of those fallen, it would have been utterly foolish to pray for the departed. But since he was looking to the reward of splendor laid up for those who repose in godliness, it was a holy and godly purpose. Thus he made atonement for the fallen, so as to set them free from their transgression. (Emphasis added)

While Christ Himself has become the one and final atonement, and sin offerings are no longer needed, we still pray for the dead so that God may forgive them of their sins.
 
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ArmyMatt

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I think one of the best examples from the Divine Liturgy is when the priest says, "Thine own of Thine own we offer unto Thee, on behalf of all and for all." this means that the Eucharistic sacrifice (and that prayer) are for everyone from Adam to the last person who will be born before Christ comes again.
 
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Knee V

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The way that I see it, my life right here and right now is being affected by the prayers of my children (child... doubtful that I'll have any more) and grandchildren, although my daughter is not yet two and my grandchildren have yet to be born.
 
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choirfiend

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I think one of the best examples from the Divine Liturgy is when the priest says, "Thine own of Thine own we offer unto Thee, on behalf of all and for all." this means that the Eucharistic sacrifice (and that prayer) are for everyone from Adam to the last person who will be born before Christ comes again.

Actually, that doesn't mean that. In fact, it is a translation issue that was the source of a LOT of debate amongst the bishops and clergy, precisely because we do not and cannot offer the Eucharist for those who would actively reject it. The Eucharist is NOT offered for everyone, else why wouldn't we let anyone take it? As I have been told, this was a translation issue in English that especially troubled Fr. Hopko, who was given a solution by a former student some number of years ago. I suppose he could be asked for more info if you are more curious.
 
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ArmyMatt

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Actually, that doesn't mean that. In fact, it is a translation issue that was the source of a LOT of debate amongst the bishops and clergy, precisely because we do not and cannot offer the Eucharist for those who would actively reject it. The Eucharist is NOT offered for everyone, else why wouldn't we let anyone take it? As I have been told, this was a translation issue in English that especially troubled Fr. Hopko, who was given a solution by a former student some number of years ago. I suppose he could be asked for more info if you are more curious.

I sit corrected. I'll have to run that by him the next time I see him. thanks choirfiend!
 
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