Review: The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way

The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way

by Anonymous, Translation by Helen Bacovin

Image Books, Doubleday, New York, 1992. 208 pp.


In the Bible, St. Paul encourages followers to “pray always.” This is a sweet, simple autobiographical account of one man’s attempt to learn how to obey. The pilgrim is an anonymous Eastern Orthodox Christian in 19th-century Russia. The journey is external, across time and geographical space. It is also internal, through humility, obedience and devotion to an ever-increasing depth of prayer. Carrying only dried bread, the Bible and the Philokalia, our pilgrim goes where teaching and compassionate service lead. As a seeker, he exemplifies the Center’s universal principles of attention, commitment, detachment and surrender, and can be a profound source of inspiration to one following this path.

This account is published in various editions and translations; the one described here and another one are available in the library. In addition, recorded excerpts from the Philokalia are also available for loan.

— reviewed by Dawn Kurzka

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