In the Orthodox faith, the bond of love between those who are present and those who departed exists and is upheld through mutual prayer for one another. Should a man that has prayed for his wife for 50 years stop praying for her after she has departed? Prayers for the departed help them; however, we don’t know how.
God, who loves us unconditionally, gave us free will, the option to do good or to do the opposite of good (evil). The choice of practicing evil results in a condition known as sin. Evil is the action, and sin is the result of that action (separation from good).
In a baptism, we question, three times, “Do you unite yourself to Christ?” We bless both the person and the baptismal water in sets of three. We baptize, immersing the candidate three times in the water. We petition our Lord, and respond, “Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.”