“Death in Orthodox Christianity is not viewed as the end of our existence. After death, the soul is only temporarily separated from the body. During the first 40 days, it goes through certain trials and meets its Creator. During this period, a soul’s posthumous fate is decided until it will be ultimately determined at the Final Judgement preceding the Universal Resurrection. The 3rd, 9th and 40th days after death are important for the posthumous existence of the deceased.”
(Reader John Malov, ‘Catalog of Good Deeds’ blog)