The Way of a Pilgrim and the Pilgrim Continues His Way

_The Way of a Pilgrim_ was first published in Russia in 1884 of unknown authorship. It is a first person narrative of the mystical reflections of a wandering peasant in mid-19th century Tsarist Russia. The authorship is unknown, although it is probably a confession from a peasant that was recorded and then later embellished with complex theological arguements by other parties. The peasant practices the Prayer of the Heart, the Prayer of Jesus, which is "Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The Jesus Prayer is the entire gospel in summation, as the peasant tells a soldier who would read an entire Gospel everyday. The Prayer is repeated and repeated continuously without being distracted by other thoughts until the feeling of the divine is reached. This was practiced by the Hesychasts and had previously caused a debate within the Orthodox Church concerning its validity. A church council decided in favor of the Hesychasts, and the standard textbook for the Jesus Prayer is a volume of compiled teachings of the Church Fathers known as the _Philokalia_, or "Love of the Beautiful." The characters in _The Pilgrim Continues His Way_ engage in a discussion of the Jesus Prayer, examining the different arguments for and against it. The book has a foreward from a Benedictine Monk who discovered the Jesus Prayer and looked for a spiritual elder (known as a starets in Russian tradition) to teach him how to practice it. The basic message of _The Way of a Pilgrim_ is that spiritual enlightenment is available to all who search for it.

This classic of Orthodax spirituality describes the attempt of a 19th century Russian peasant to find the meaning of St. Paul's words, "Pray without ceasing." When a friend suggested I read her copy, I approached it with a certain hesitancy, but the further I read, the more entranced I became. To me, the wonder of this book is in the search for union with God, not necessarily in the means used to attain it. I recommend it highly to all those interested in the search for greater good. It is not a book for all tastes, however, and might be rated 3 or even 2 star by some.