Eastern Orthodox theology teaches that each human being has an immortal soul that survives bodily death. At death, the soul undergoes a particular judgment and enters a state of either rest and peace (for the righteous) or suffering (for sinners) while awaiting the general resurrection and Last Judgment. The Church prays earnestly for the departed, particularly on Saturdays and at designated memorial services (Saturdays of the Departed, Pascha season).

The Orthodox Church does not formally teach a doctrine of purgatory equivalent to the Catholic definition. While many Orthodox theologians acknowledge a process of growth or purification for the departed who are in God's mercy but not yet fully transformed, this is not articulated in the juridical terms of temporal punishment satisfaction. The general resurrection of all the dead, the Last Judgment before Christ, and the eternal states of heaven and hell are firmly taught. Orthodox hymnography for the departed expresses both confident hope in God's mercy and realistic acknowledgment of the judgment to come.