The Way of a Pilgrim and A Pilgrim Continues on His Way (Shambhala Classics) [Paperback]

Olga Savin (Translator), Father Thomas Hopko (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Shambhala Classics | Publication Date: November 6, 2001

This classic of world spiritual literature is the firsthand account of a pilgrim's journey as he endeavors to live out Saint Paul's instruction to "pray without ceasing." The narrator, an unnamed nineteenth-century peasant, sets out on his pilgrimage with nothing but a Bible, a rosary, and some dried bread. As he walks, he recites the Jesus prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me")—a prayer that is said to quiet anxiety and fill the heart with love for all creation. With this prayer constantly on his lips, the pilgrim undergoes a profound spiritual education. This edition includes the sequel to The Way of a Pilgrim, entitled A Pilgrim Continues His Way, which contains a lengthy appendix reviewing the teachings of the Holy Fathers on the Jesus prayer.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Way of a Pilgrim is a spiritual classic, but its origins are shrouded in mystery. It came to a remote monastery in Greece in the 19th century and was first published in 1884. Whether it is literal, fictitious, metaphorical, or pedagogical is unknown. The story follows an itinerant spiritual wanderer, all the time practicing Saint Paul's exhortation to "pray without ceasing." Specifically, the pilgrim repeats one prayer unceasingly, the Jesus prayer, until it becomes a sort of mantra. Through repetition of the prayer and encounters with his fellow inhabitants of 19th-century Russia and Siberia, the wanderer finds a spiritual enlightenment.

The Way of a Pilgrim is an oddity, but it can also be strikingly profound. In its sequel, A Pilgrim Continues His Way, the pilgrim engages an even richer dramatis personae in dialogues and spiritual lessons. Olga Savin's crisp, straightforward translation preserves the distinctive timelessness that makes the book great spiritual literature. This edition also includes three appendices that elaborate on the narrative's themes and a helpful glossary. --Eric de Place

Review

"The pilgrim's journeys and his various encounters are recounted in an appealing, unaffected manner, and Savin's flowing translation serves this tone well."— Publishers Weekly Religion  BookLine

"One of the most influential spiritual books of the last hundred years. It is one of those rare books that can make a difference in a person's life."—Jacob Needleman, author of Lost Christianity

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (November 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570628076
• ISBN-13: 978-1570628078
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on prayer and the Christian life, November 15, 2007

By 

C. Stephans - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way of a Pilgrim and A Pilgrim Continues on His Way (Shambhala Classics) (Paperback)

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 the prayer so effective for those who pray it in combating their spiritual enemies and producing the fruits of the Spirit in their heart.

The author emphasizes that God's grace drives prayer and rewards prayer. He urges those he speaks with to make attempts at prayer and ask God to help them. He does not belittle even the feeblest attempts at prayer. For the author, every intention of ours and every movement of ours toward God are valuable to God. He summarizes his thoughts,

"The love of God gives grace a thousand fold more than human actions deserve. If you give Him the merest mite, He will pay you back with gold. If you but purpose to go to the Father, He will come out to meet you. You say but a word, short and unfeeling--`Receive me, have mercy on me'--and He falls on your neck and kisses you. That is what the love of the heavenly Father is like toward us, unworthy as we are." (Pilgrim 117)

This is an important spiritual value for the pilgrim that he tries to practice and teach. God gives us grace to come to Him, and when we come, he pours out more grace upon us.

The Way of the Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way summarize the Bible's lesson on prayer. The author illustrates that prayer leads us to Christ and the Father and is itself inspired and initiated by the Holy Spirit within us. The author has included many scriptures about prayer. He shows systematically how the New Testament encourages prayer. He offers a lesson on how prayer empowers us to do good works, so that the term, "Pray and do and think what you will" is reasonable and sensible for the Christian who prays sincerely.

The book offers a way of life that is hidden in Christ through a continual praying from the heart to Christ. The author shows how it is possible and beneficial to pray continually as prescribed by Scripture.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars East Christianity's version of the West's John Bunyan classic - "The Pilgrim's Progress", December 24, 2006

By 

Gabriel E. Borlean (Odense, Denmark - birthtown of fairytale-writer H.C. Andersen) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way of a Pilgrim and A Pilgrim Continues on His Way (Shambhala Classics) (Paperback)

Introduction:

A hidden spiritual treasure worthy of contemplation and meditation for any Christian who wants to grow closer to the heart and life of Jesus.

While reading this book, I realized that this spiritual devotional is a gem on the cultural and timeless level as John Bunyan's classic "The Pilgrim's Progress" (a favorite with Protestants) or Thomas a Kempis' classic "The Imitation of Christ" or Brother Lawrence's "The Practice of the Presence of God"(well known by Roman-Catholics). Historically, the eastern church (Ortodoxy) is one whose theology is synonymous with mysticism, something that comes across in "The Way of the Pilgrim" thru the Jesus Prayer and Philokalia. The western church (Catholic and Protestant) emphasis is more on systemic theology and doctrinal formulations.

Author:
The author is unknown. Father Thomas Hopko (from famous Orthodox Seminary St. Vladimir in New York), who write the forward, states that "whatever the origin and intention of the anonymous author's fascinating story" the pilgrim's way "affirms first of all that the source, goal and content of human life is ... the living God Himself."

Content:
The spiritual way of this pilgrim tells us "that life is communion with God ... a ceaseless prayer in pursuit of God and communion with him." It also tells us that "Jesus Christ is this life."

The pilgrimage starts with an honest question: "What does it mean to pray without ceasing?" (as the pilgrim had heard during Liturgy; 1 Thes. 5:17, Eph. 6:18, 1 Tim. 2:18). He searches long for an answer to his questions of "how one is to pray unceasingly and what is the nature of this sort of prayer."

He travels with a Bible that is very dear to him (which he had been reading from early childhood) and a sack of dried bread crumbs and some water. Once he learns of the "Jesus Prayer" that the holy Church Fathers had written about, he realizes that "the prayer began to move of its own accord from my lips into my heart." He states that "calling on the name of Jesus now filled my days with joys" and everytime a spirit of sorrow, fatigue, doubt came over him, repeating "the Jesus Prayer" helps him to turn his mind and heart to God and fills him with divine peace and joy. The pilgrim also learns and acquires the Philokalia, a collection of deep spiritual writings from the Christians of the East. Thus the Pilgrim's progress is a life of reading the Bible, having a life of prayer, and contemplating on the spiritual gems found in the Philokalia.

Conclusion:
If you believe that "we are all pilgrims on a journey to God", as the forward to "The Way of the Pilgrim" states, than your spiritual life will be enriched by this Christian classic.

"Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Doamne ajuta! (roumanian for 'May God help us!')

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad print, January 9, 2007

By 

Stane Ravnik - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Way of a Pilgrim and A Pilgrim Continues on His Way (Shambhala Classics) (Paperback)

This book has very bad print on a bad paper! It will hurt your eyes!

Never seen such a thing in my life, you can't read it for half one hour without headache.

Never more books from this publisher! Waste of money!

I have to buy other version of The Way, so I can read it.