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The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way

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As Morton Kelsey has stated in his book, The Other Side of Silence, "This little book puts the ideas of the Philokalia into the hands of the ordinary person, showing how they can be made part of our devotional practice while we go about life in the ordinary, secular world." The Jesus prayer is simple, but the intent is to discipline one's mind toward a constant awareness of God's presence as manifested through Christ's mercy. The prayer reinforces one's absolute dependence on God's grace and sensitizes one's soul to the Holy Spirit's leadings. One is reminded of that other classic of the spiritual life by Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God. To pray without ceasing is possible, but one must internalize prayer to make it an automatic, perpetual attitude of submission, not just a few words on the lips. The anonymous pilgrim was successful because of his faith-filled determination to locate the scriptural key to unceasing prayer and open the spiritual lock through practice. He seeks until he finds, and what he finds is a treasure of joy unspeakable and full of glory and a peace which passes all understanding. My heart was with the pilgrim throughout his wanderings because his concern was mine and, if it's your concern as well, you too will find that treasure.

I first learned of this book when I read Salinger's "Franny & Zooey" back in high school (a long time ago!). In the "Franny" portion, you will recall that she repeats a prayer over and over, and consults a little book. At the time, I asked my lit teacher what the book was and was told it didn't exist .. it was just part of the story. Many, many years later, I heard about the Way of the Pilgrim, and putting 2 and 2 together, realized that this is what Salinger referred to. I then read Way of the Pilgrim, just to see the literary reference, and instead found a beautiful book that renewed my spiritual life. This is a simple story of a 19th century Russian wanderer, his attempts to follow St. Paul's admonition to pray without ceasing. This is a marvelous story. I recommend it without hesitation to any person who wants to grow spiritually.

I first read this book eighteen years ago and the pilgrim's humble and simple story touched something in my heart. The book was so inspiring that it moved me to begin praying the Jesus Prayer, and the Prayer and the Pilgrim have been my companions in life ever since.

The story takes place in Russia in the nineteenth century. Our pilgrim is a man who has lost his family and his home, is slightly disabled, and who is burning with a passion for God. He hears a sermon on the necessity of constant prayer, and in his eagerness to find out how this is possible, sets out on a journey across Russia to meet with any spiritual advisor who can instruct him. One of these holy fathers introduces him to the Philokalia and the Prayer of the Heart. In passing along the instruction, however, the pilgrim is really teaching us, the readers. This book is filled with sound teaching, but, unlike other books on spirituality/theology, it does not tell us what to do, but rather lets the pilgrim, through narrative and dialogue, tell what he himself did. The instruction unfolds along with the story, touching the reader's heart and soul in the process.

If you read this and would like to pursue the Prayer of the Heart, you might also want to read another very simple book called "Living the Jesus Prayer," by Irma Zaleski. Those two books, plus the Gospel, will get you through your whole life and beyond, and it will be a journey of joy and peace, and a direct experience of Omnipresence.

10 years ago I picked up a copy of The Way of a Pilgrim quite by accident, not knowing what it was about, and it changed and deepened my spiritual direction. As a consequence, its influence has been life-changing. I continue to say the Jesus Prayer as a way of focusing myself on the Spirit of God within and blocking out all distractions. Simply written and easy to understand, this book doesn't require interpretation or great intellect in order to receive the full blessing poured out onto each page. It has a positive and lasting impact on its reader. It goes without saying that the Philokalia volumes should follow on the book list -- or at least some excerpt from the desert father's teachings. This book remains one of my all-time favorites!

I like this book.
I have been taught about this kind of prayer of Jesus. But after I read this book I get a deep insight of this prayer.
I think the writer maybe get a help from God to write this book.
The way the writer wrote this book is enjoyable, like friend talk to his friend. The writer is very simple person, you can see from how he respond to his daily life. And I am very moved seeing the people he met. they was kind person and warm. The society where I live now, is very different with that, here is cold, not like to talk to person the don`t know, busy with their own problem.

And now, I`m trying to practice this method of prayer.

For people want to know how to pray, or have problem in your life, it is a gooood boook.

The life and way of the pilgrim is a truly Orthodox Christian spiritual experience. My problem is not with the pilgrim, but this translation.

The book has adopted some Catholic undertones that I cannot ignore. For example, the first "o" in "Orthodox" is often in lower-case, which indicates a wide-range of subjective beliefs about what one could call correct Christianity. The author should have translated "orthodox Christians" as "Orthodox Christians", as the latter indicates believers in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Furthermore, when the pilgrim watches over a church over a summer and speaks with a young woman which a schismatic father saying "unorthodox prayers", he confronts her. He intructs her in the "Our Father" and the "Hail Mary". It should be noted, Orthodox Christians don't say the Hail Mary, but there is a variant of that Catholic prayer in the morning and evening prayers. However, it is not called the "Hail Mary", nor is it a particularly elevated prayer.

As the extention of this argument, the pilgrim refers a few times to his "rosary". Orthodox Christians do not use rosaries; I am not 100% sure, but he probably originally used the word "chokti", which is simply a prayer rope. Orthodox prayer ropes are not divided the same way and they are not used for the same purpose. As an Orthodox Christian holds a prayer rope, the Theotokos (Mary) will probably never be mentioned.

The best refutation of Catholicizing this story is the mention of the Jesus Prayer and the Philokalia. The RCC has not officially supported or theologized about the Jesus Prayer. The Philokalia has a number of Orthodox saints who are not even saints in the Roman Catholic Church!

Catholic translators probably innocently made Western Christian translation errors, but it detracts from its Orthodox roots and should not go without mentioning. I would recommend an alternative version translated by those of the same religion as this anonymous Russian peasant, Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Recommendation: The translation of Olga Savin with the forward by Fr. Thomas Hopko

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.

A wonderful Zen proverb says that "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear." This highly readable account of a Russian peasant in search of pure prayer crossed my path at just the right time. We readers follow the peasant's journey after he hears St. Paul's exhortation to "pray without ceasing." Through monastery and village, through rain and warmth, he follows that hunger that we all feel for a purposeful life, for a deeper awareness of the Divine in our mundane lives. The Way of a Pilgrim mustn't be read only once, but savored and mined with re-reads. The book offers a glimpse through one doorway that leads to a new life -- The Jesus Prayer.

"The Way Of A Pilgrim (And A Pilgrim Continues His Way)" . . . a spiritual classic from the Eastern Orthodox Church and Holy Mother Russia . . . a small volume which condenses the profound spiritual thoughts and learned experience of "The Philokalia" into the sage recountings of this itinerant Russian pilgrim . . . we "hear' the teachings of Jesus and The New Testament and the spiritual warriors (the monks of The Philokalia) on page oafter page of this tiny volume as the pilgrim encounters "annonymous seekers" along his journey.

For anyone wanting to learn the meaning (and the actual possibility) of the scroptural injunction to "pray without ceasing", this simple jouney along with this simple pilgrim will help to get you there. . . for our pilgrimage is to attain, "ceaseless prayer" . . . constant communication with God, the Divine One.

The foreward to this translation by Helen Bacovcin is written by Fr. Walter Ciszek . . . a jesuit who spent time in the Soviet gulag . . . who lived in Russia until 1963 when Pope John XXIII and John Kennedy's policies helped to bring him home to the United States. Fr. Ciszek himself then lived as a pilgrim in this very same Russia as the pilgrim of this "spiritual enlightenment" . . . Fr. Ciszek then gives us a first hand endorsement of the value and meaningfulness of this pilgrim's testimony . . . "The Jesus Prayer" was Fr. Ciszek's companion and prayer for his years in Soviet ruled Mother Russia . . . it became his prayer closet . . . his chapel . . his cathedral . . . his soul and spirit. . . it can become this for anyone of us as well . . . and should.

This is a good book to own and read and re-read . . . food for your soul.

Mr. C.S. Lewis once observed, "Prayer does not change God, it changes me." This is much the theme of this simple yet profound little book. It is the story of a young man on a quest for a greater intimacy with God and how he discovers it in the simple words of a simple prayer of confession. This book can help Christians of all persuasions look to the right source for intimacy with God. It's not just for the Orthodox to learn this humble but powerful lesson of a life changed by way of prayer.