There are false teachers who say that prayer for the dead is in vain because in the next world the soul already has what is prepared for itself while here. What awful hardness of heart, what darkening of the mind, and height of pride! What heart full of love, having been given the right of praying for other members of the Church, who make up one spiritual body, could be indifferent to the lot of it's friend beyond the grave! What could hold it back from tears, from prayers for the state of the departed? It is ready for everything, for all self-sacrifices, if only it's good will could be fulfilled. And there is nothing abnormal in this. Prayer and every good work can never be without fruit. If we are told that a sinner has died, then for this reason we pray for him for it is said: "Ask and it shall be given to you." We ask for that which is pleasing to God Who desires the salvation of all. And if the object of our prayer is in agreement with the will of God, then our prayer, made in the simplicity of our heart, with full commitment to God, cannot be useless if only the deceased is a sinful Christian and not an apostate from Christ. I know that my deceased one is a sinner, because I believe the word of God which bears witness: "In Thy sight [that is God] shall no man living be justified" (Psalm 142:2); and St. Paul, of the chief Apostles, the chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit, called himself accursed (Romans 7:24); and the divinely inspired King David called himself not a man, but a worm! What can be said after this, who among mortals can boast of his righteousness before God? Moreover, they will say to you that your departed one was not only a sinner, but left this world, perhaps, without proper repentance! We answer: who amongst us, be it the living or those departed this earthly life, has brought proper repentance? The strength, the degree of repentance, which is a gift of God, cannot be known to man. It is known only to the one Knower of Hearts, God. If God Himself bears witness that it is hard for a righteous man to be justified at the judgment, that means that there had not been full repentance. Only grace fulfills that which is lacking to those who repent, according to their desire for repentance: "For all have sinned, and are deprived of the Glory of God" (Romans 3:23)
Pg 165&166 How our Departed Ones Live
The experience of The Orthodox Church
Monk Mitrophan
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