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

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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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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!')

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.

A classic in the search of how to live the Christian life. The Pilgrim is a young man searching for the meaning of how to pray without ceasing and through that search his life is altered for the better. By way of Pilgrim's search, you will find yourself seeking the same passion for God he does.

Though the book is sadly unknown outside Orthodox Christian circles, it is an enjoyable and inspirational read for Christians of any denominational persuasion. It is also key to understanding Orthodox Christian theology at its roots. To compare it with other works that might be more familiar I think _In His Steps_ (ISBN: 0800786084) by Sheldon comes close. But Pilgrim remains a classic in its own right.

The anonymous confessions of an early 19th century Russian aestetic to his spiritual adviser, THE WAY OF A PILGRIM is a classic of Orthodox Christian spirituality and contains within its humble account a message accessible to every reader. Far from being a highfaultin' work of theology, its theme is simply the ability of any individual to dwell in the presence of God.

The author of the account speaks of how one day in a sermon he heard St Paul's exhortation to "pray without ceasing", and he wondered how that might be possible. When he asks the question of the abbot of a nearby monastery, the wise old monk introduces the pilgrim to the tradition of the prayer of the heart, or "Jesus prayer". The pilgrim wanders all over Russia, as far as Irkutsk in the east of Siberia. His account gives us an enjoyable account of Russian peasant life of the time. As he journeys about, he reads much of the Philokalia, the classic compendium of mystical writings by Orthodox saints. Essentially, the Jesus prayer is an attempt to come closer to God through ceaseless repetition of the phrase "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." In the initial steps of his prayer life, the pilgrim says this first hundreds and then thousands of times a day. But the Jesus prayer is no mantra, having intrisic value in its, nor is it "vain repetition". Rather, the prayer is meant to guide the Christian into a ceaseless longing for God in his heart. Without that centering in the heart, speaking the words of the prayer is an empty gesture.

The work is an important representation of Orthodoxy to non-Orthodox, and it dispells two popular misconceptions about the Church. One is the accusation made by some Protestants that Orthodoxy is ritualism mediated by a priest, and does not teach a personal relationship by God. You could hardly have a greater relationship with God than calling upon him every waking (and sleeping) hour. The other misconception is that Christianity has no mystical tradition comparable to the East, but THE WAY OF A PILGRIM, once you get past its rather staid prose, will reveal profound teachings on prayer and meditation that the hippest Hindu or Buddhist fads are the palest reflections of. Just look at the publisher here, Shambhala, who generally put out books on Zen or Tibetan thought.

The book does have a sequel, "A Pilgrim Continues His Way", which is published together with THE WAY OF A PILGRIM in some editions. I have not read this yet, and I say that if you can't find an edition with it, don't worry, as the main text has more than enough to keep you occupied. THE WAY OF A PILGRIM is a common introductory reading recommended by Orthodox priests to inquirers and converts in English-speaking countries, and I can heartily recommend it. I should note however that the Philokalia, to which the author often refers, was written for monastics and is generally considered dangerous to read without the guidance of a spiritual father.

I've read several books on Orthodoxy and The Jesus Prayer and this is one of the best. The Way of a Pilgrim, in and of itself, is incredibly inspirational and well worth acquiring; a true classic in Christian literature. However, what I liked best about this particular version is the appendix. Included are several writings from the Fathers regarding The Jesus Prayer intelligently hand-picked by the authors to illuminate how the text can be transformed to your own life by learning how to use The Jesus Prayer. The writings are condensed, key points from authorative Fathers in Orthodox history regarding the Jesus Prayer. The text and the appendix have been deeply rewarding for me. This is one of the few books I return to again and again for inspiration. Highly recommended.

Occasionally a bad print job will slip through. Maybe the press was running short of ink. I've gotten one or two books like that. It is annoying, but Amazon will replace it and pay return shipping. The replacement was always fine.

I don't read enough Russian to comment knowledgeably on the translation, but it seems fine to me. There is also an appendix of nearly 50 pages with additional information culled from the Holy Fathers.

This book is legendary.

In order to understand this book you have to have at least some knowledge of what theosis is.

Theosis is salvation, and salvation is constant union with God, and constant union with God can be easily achieved by diligently practicing the hesychast tradition of Eastern Orthodox monastics. Who knew that an unceasing call upon the Holy Name of Jesus Christ is all that is needed. This book exalts the Philokalia constantly, but the practice of Interior Prayer is explained in such detail in this book, with different excerpts from the Philokalia and sometimes Scriptures, that you almost want to exalt this book to the level of the Philokalia itself, which the book mentions to be a "tool of achieving salvation without toil", which this book will also remind you of.

everybody should read this and gain an understanding of what the depth of prayer can be. It is very easy to read and follow.