[annalex]

it appears to me that there is at least some quantification of that merit in the Latin Church doctrine, that it is stored up some place waiting to be dispensed. That wouldn't be Orthodox at all

Yes, I agree that at least in the popular mind there is that quantification, which is in line with the general trend of the West to define the ineffable. It is definitely a significant difference, but I hesitate to call it a difference in dogma; I would call it a difference in phronema.

I don't see [the relationship between merit and mercy] in +Paul VI's writing

I will try to expound on this later, maybe tomorrow. I think the passage I cited relates the merit to the superabundant merit of the sacrifice of Christ, and the channel of connection is mercy, rather than any kind of purchase of merit for temporal suffering. Maybe I read the subtext into the actual words when I say so. I was thinking that as we know the Sacrifice of the Mass is not another sacrifice to augment Christ's, but a revivification of the same superabundantly efficacious sacrifice. Likewise, indulgenced work is not an addition to the suffering of Christ but rather a participation in that same suffering.

Yes, both the saved and the damned, everyone, go through the "intermediate stage" in Orthodox theology.

Aha. This is indeed, very significant.

[Kolokotronis]

Tell me something, please. What exactly do you mean when you speak of the "superabundant" merit of Christ's sacrifice? I would have thought that the perfect sacrifice would have been sufficient to its purpose, no more, no less, were I to quantify it at all, which I wouldn't. Am I misunderstanding the word? If not, I doubt an Orthodox person would even think in terms of "superabundancy" when it comes to the Incarnation.

"...the channel of connection is mercy, rather than any kind of purchase of merit for temporal suffering."

Spin that out, please. It is intriguing, Alex.

"Likewise, indulgenced work is not an addition to the suffering of Christ..."

I should think not!

"... but rather a participation in that same suffering."

Huh? You've lost me. +John Chrysostomos says that we share in Christ's death through baptism, but his suffering on the Cross, do we share that in any sense more tangibly than that all of our suffering in this life comes, ultimately, from sin, our own or those of others?