EFFICACY OF PRAYERS FOR THE DEPARTED: | The Voice Of Orthodoxy

EFFICACY OF PRAYERS FOR THE DEPARTED: | The Voice Of Orthodoxy: The Departed Are Not Sleeping.

There is an erroneous assumption among Protestants that the departed are either silent or inactive until the second coming of Jesus. However, Orthodoxy does not find this as a cogent position based on the Holy Scriptures or on the apostolic and patristic traditions of the holy Church. St. Paul clearly emphasizes that both the living and the departed equally have to please God. “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him” 2 Cor. 5:9). In order to do the deeds that please God, one needs the grace of God. In order for the departed to receive the grace of God, they definitely need the help of prayers. Yes, it is a sin of omission when we do not pray for our departed. In order for them to grow in grace as brethren in faith and as members of the same body of Christ of which the departed are also members, we have a spiritual duty to pray for them.