Eastern Orthodox view of purgatory

15th November 2002 at 10:37 PM Michael0701 said this in Post #3

I was raised Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic. We share some catechism with the orthodoxy, but I don't know if this is one of the common points. And if I recall correctly I was taught that there in fact is a purgtory. It was the place you went to if you were a sinner, but not a "cardinal" sinner. It was a place of suffering, but with a timeline. After you did your time in purgatory you would ascend into heaven. We were taught to pray for the dead, as if prayers would ease their suffering or shorten their time there.

Click to expand...

Hoonbaba said:

Hi guys,

I was reading about Eastern Orthodoxy and they claim to not believe in purgatory whatsoever.  What's interesting though is that they do believe in a need for being purged of their sins, if some unrepentant sin still exists in them.  Yet, they don't call it refer to it as purgatory/sheol/hades (I think).  It's as if they believe in purgatory (from a different perspective), yet they don't call it purgatory as Catholics understand it.

Dear Jason: Christ is in our midst!

When I went through catechesis, I was taught that the Orthodox do pray for the dead. In fact, they have four Saturdays of the Souls (whereas the RCC only has one All Souls Day.

It's just that the Orthodox Church only believes in defining doctrines pertaining to Christ and the Church. So the Roman Catholic definitions of the Assumption, Immaculate Conception, Papal Infallibility, Purgatory and the Indulgences were never part of Orthodox teachings. These doctrines developed within the Roman Catholic Church after 800 A.D., and by that time the Orthodox were becoming disenchanted with the increasing papal powers.

However if you look at the lives of holy saints and monks, you will see a different side of Orthodoxy that parallels Roman doctrines. St. Xenia of Petersburg's husband died in an alcoholic brawl. She was so concerned for his salvation that she put on his military coat and slept at his tomb, praying and fasting for his soul for 30 years. Talk about love for one's spouse. Our Lord permitted her to have a vision of her husband's soul leaving hell and entering into the eternal joys of heaven. He evidentally did love God, and the little love he had for God allowed him to enter heaven but only through the prayers of his wife.
Had she not prayed for him, he more than likely would still be in hell.

Does that mean that everyone who is in hell can escape. NO. There are some sins which are deadly. An alcoholic problem with which one struggles against is different from fornication, despair of salvation, thievery and murderous hatred.

YSIC
Elizabeth

Click to expand...

chanterhanson said:

....

Had she not prayed for him, he more than likely would still be in hell.

Does that mean that everyone who is in hell can escape. NO. There are some sins which are deadly. An alcoholic problem with which one struggles against is different from fornication, despair of salvation, thievery and murderous hatred.

YSIC
Elizabeth

Click to expand...

B4Eddie said:

Hi Elizabeth, I made it "Right Behind" you!

That seems quite a bit different from the RC Purgatory. We believe those in purgatory are definitely saved.

Can Christian prayers undo a soul's damnation after death? Or do I misunderstand what you are saying.

My Dearest Eddie in Christ,

Christ is in our midst! He is and always shall be!

Yes the Holy Mysteries (the sacraments) are awesome. Without them I know that I could not be saved. I need God's grace everyday and Holy Confession and Holy Communion have helped me tremendously.

The Orthodox Faith teaches that we must repent now, not in the hereafter. That is why we pray, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." as many times as we can throughout the day.
After all, St. Paul told us to pray unceasingly.

We don't know the mind of God, but He knows what is in our heart, if our spirit is in agreement with His Holy Spirit. How do you know if a soul is in purgatory, heaven, or hell? No one knows. To trust in one past moment when we felt saved is presumption. We must live every moment of our lives as if we were going to die the next. We must be repentant and pray for our loved ones giving them a good example.

Purgatory is a Roman Catholic doctrine. Orthodoxy teaches that we can pray for the souls (per Tobit) but if a person hates another person, then there is little we can do. Hatred damns a soul.

Universal Salvation was condemned by an Ecumenical Council, the same council which condemned Origen. Therefore, we cannot say that everyone is saved, or that everyone we pray for will be saved. Prayer is not wasted however. Everyone of our friends, relatives and acquaintances who die, should be included in our prayers. That is our Christian obligation, and is taught by the RCC and the EOC.

Hope this helps.

Check out www.oca.org especially Orthodox Christianity as Father John has excellent responses to questions like this.

YSIC

Elizabeth

Click to expand...