[bdeaner]

We do indeed pray for the souls of the dead in that we ask God to show mercy on them,

An additional comment: If there is no purgatory, per Orthodox doctrine, there is no reason to pray for the dead. They would be in Hell without possibility of redemption, or in Heaven, without need of redemption. Praying for the dead implies the doctrine of purgatory, it seems to me, whether or not one rejects the term.

[Kolokotronis]

“If there is no purgatory, per Orthodox doctrine, there is no reason to pray for the dead. They would be in Hell without possibility of redemption, or in Heaven, without need of redemption. Praying for the dead implies the doctrine of purgatory, it seems to me, whether or not one rejects the term.”

No so. After the “Particular Judgment”, the soul remains in the “Place of the Dead” or “Hades” or the “Bosom of Abraham”; in any event, the soul rests, we hope,”...in a place of light, in a place of green pasture, in a place of refreshment, from where pain and sorrow and mourning are fled away.” until the Last Jugment. And in the end, b, it is only by God’s mercy that any join the sheep.