The Way of a Pilgrim: And the Pilgrim Continues His Way

I couldn't be happier with my book, that I had never heard about, until by chance I read the description. However, once a received the book (in excellent condition, btw) I noticed the foreword by Walter Ciszek, s.j. - that I have heard of - giving this "take a chance book" some validity to read without hesitation. And a nice added gift of a bookmark "the Jesus prayer". Thank you seller!

It took me a long time to read this book, because I had to pause to cry and would pick it up again in a while. This book is soul-food. I am so grateful for it.

In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes "Pray without ceasing," (1 Thes 5:17) and in his letter to the Ephesians, he writes "Pray at all times in the Spirit." (Eph 6:18) What does it mean to pray at all times without ceasing? Can it be done? These are the questions asked by the pilgrim, the main character of The Way of the Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues his Way, two books written in the late nineteenth century by an anonymous Russian Christian. The pilgrim character tells of his journeys through Russia as he seeks to learn to pray unceasingly. Through the telling of his tale, the pilgrim shares much about prayer. The focus of prayer is The Jesus Prayer, and the goal for the pilgrim is to continually pray this prayer from his heart. The writer introduces lessons on prayer and the Christian life through other characters such as priests, wise teachers called "starets" and other Christian travelers who share their stories of faith. The pilgrim carries two books with him that are his sole possessions on the earth and his treasures. These are The Bible and a book of Eastern Church Fathers called The Philokalia. The narrator references both books to provide lessons on prayer. His journey reveals what he learns about prayer. Through the book, the narrator reveals several lessons about prayer for reflection and practice. The main theme is ceaseless prayer. An older teacher shares with the pilgrim that, as Paul writes to the Romans, "we know not what we should pray for as we ought." (Rom 8:26) The teacher advises that the perfection of prayer is not within our power, but we can pray often and always. The teacher then shares The Jesus Prayer with the pilgrim, "The continuous interior prayer of Jesus is a constant uninterrupted calling upon the name of Jesus with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart, while forming a mental picture of His constant presence, and the imploring of His grace, during every occupation, at all times, in all places, even during sleep. The appeal is couched in these terms, `Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.'" (Pilgrim 9) The pilgrim begins by practicing saying the above prayer thousands of times a day. With much effort and by the rejection of other thoughts and doubts, he develops the habit of saying it continually. He first says it with his lips and mind. Later in the book a teacher shares with him the expanded form of the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."(Pilgrim 135) His teacher explains that in this form of the prayer, the entire Gospel and way to salvation is represented. Through his interactions with others and his reading, the pilgrim continues to learn about The Jesus Prayer and its effects. He shares the following, "What the Gospel is, that the prayer of Jesus is also, for the Divine Name of Jesus Christ holds in itself the whole gospel truth. The holy Fathers say that the prayer of Jesus is a summary of the Gospels."(Pilgrim 27) This explains why t

Sergius Bolshakoff in his book "Russian Mystics" writes that there is a manuscript copy in the St. Panteleimon Monastery in Mount Athos. Writing in 1956 he adds that this copy is longer than the existing printed version with five extra episodes and a postscript.The first printed version came out in Kazan in 1884 and was called "Sincere Tales of a Pilgrim to His Spiritual Father". The introduction of this version tells it to be a reproduction of manuscript which Paisius, abbot of St. Michael of the Cheremissi, found and copied on Mount Athos. Paisius died in 1883.Bolshakoff writes further that he found the above when he was studying the correspondence of Fr. Jerome Solomentsev. He concludes that the pilgrim perhaps visited Mount Athos and wrote or dictated his story for Fr. Jerome.However, the above is not the whole history. Bolshakoff found further new information on the pilgrim from two letters of Staretz Ambrose of Optino to a nun who was a prioress of a convent and who had read the manuscript of the Tales before it was printed in Kazan.Bolshakoff: "In his letter Staretz Ambrose writes: "You write that you came across a manuscript which indicates a simple method to learn the Prayer of Jesus, vocal, mental, and of heart. This manuscript was written by a peasant from the province of Orel who was taught the Prayer of Jesus by an unknown Staretz. You write that the manuscript of this peasant ends in 1859. Shortly before that time we heard from our late staretz, Father Macarius, that he was visited by a layman who had attained to such a high degree of spiritual prayer that Fr. Macarius did not know what to tell him. This layman, in order to receive advice, described to our staretz various states of prayer. Fr Macarius could only tell him: 'Be humble' be humble'. Afterwards he told us about this experience with astonishement. I thought at the time that this concerned the Orel merchant Neumuitov who was a great man of prayer, but I think now that he might well be that peasant of whom you write." (p. 236)

This book was given to me as a gift many years ago, and has remained a favourite ever since. In the simplest and most humble of styles, the anonymous pilgrem recounts the story of his struggles with prayer: how is he to 'pray continually' in a world of such speed and noise? His journeys and adventures as he learns the life of inner prayer are stunningly beautiful in their presentation, and inspiring to all who read this work. And while "The Way of a Pilgrim" is not an 'instruction manual' on prayer, it cannot help but inspire the prayer-life of its readers. The author's compilation of related materials on the Orthodox "Jesus Prayer," found at the end of the book, are a welcomed addition to a marvelous text.