To be taught Feb 1, 2020.
From Michael Ruse:
Praying for the dead is an expression of worship. It’s based on the Holy Trinity’s love for all of us and it’s an ancient practice of the Church.
First Timothy in Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition teaches us that Orthodox Christians prayed for the dead. We love our departed family and friends, whether or not they are in the Church. We care about their eternal state just as God is, except God loves humanity perfectly. Since God is the “lover of humanity,” we offer prayers for relief for sinners and prayers for more perfect union with the Trinity for the saints.
Can our prayers really help the departed? It’s not just a pious gesture nor is it ancestor worship. Our prayers help all those to whom we devote our good works and prayers because Hades was destroyed, and we have been given Jesus Christ Himself in the Eucharist.
In previous chapters we learned that Jesus Christ through his death, descent and resurrection has destroyed Hades and death so that until the Final Judgment we can always ask for God’s mercy because of God’s “ineffable love for mankind.” Protestants might argue that’s not possible. Roman Catholics might argue that’s it’s possible, but with limitations to the righteous who are already being purged in the fire, also known as Purgatory. The Orthodox Church practices praying “for all men” (1 Tim.2:1).
Metropolitan Hilarion’s use of the Church Fathers, such as St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom, shows that the prayers for the dead are powerful because “the dreadful Mysteries” are offered. This point is particularly seen in the prayers for the departed that are said right after the consecration in the liturgy of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom. The fact that these prayers are offered in every liturgy on Sunday highlights the importance of how Orthodox Christians view the whole Church. Every Orthodox Christian, in the grave or not, are together as one body. There is a section too that deals with the question of praying for non-Orthodox Christians. Metropolitan Hilarion already hints at the answer by quoting Holy Scripture from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy.