5.0 out of 5 stars Prayer of the Heart

R.D.S. · September 1, 2011

This classic should be on every Christian's book shelf and be well worn from multiple readings. The mystical teachings of Christianity are poorly known in the west and this book is a great introduction to the teachings of the Desert Fathers and the Philokalia. This edition is very readable with a fascinating introduction on the origins of the work that is of interest to scholars. Learning how to "pray unceasingly" is a skill that brings peace and great joy to anyone (from any religious tradition) who practices it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

C.B. · June 6, 2017

A book that cane right on time. I have a new sense of renewal for my prayer life.

4.0 out of 5 stars Prayer is Risky Business

D.S. · April 11, 2015

Personally I could have used more on hesychasm and less on the authorship of the text. Other than that this is a great edition of a classic text. Highly recommended. For anyone, like the Pilgrim, who has been frustrated in attempts to find simple clear instructions for prayer this is literally a God send.I must say that I started reading this again on the recommendation of the Orthodox priest who is trying to make an iconographer out of me. I found the beginning to be terrifying. Look what happens to the Pilgrim after he starts praying without ceasing - not a lot of creature comforts! While the book is comforting and grandfatherly on the one hand in terms of the advice it offers; on the other hand the book is as amazing and strange and terrifying as an encounter with the Risen Lord. I'm reminded of what fomer Archbishop of Canterbury said about icons of the face of Jesus: "Looking at Jesus seriously changes things; if we do not want to be changed, it is better not to look too hard or too long." In this case the quote might be amended to say: "Praying to Jesus seriously changes things; if we do not want to be changed, it is better not to pray too hard or too long."

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

M.T.M. · April 11, 2018

Excellent.

5.0 out of 5 stars For Safe Journeying on the Way

b. · July 23, 2006

This book, whose original author/s are speculated about but by no means known, recounts the tale - perhaps real, perhaps imagined - of one who is a pilgrim in mid-19th century Russia. He carries with him nothing but some dried bread crusts and his Bible; we meet him at the beginning of the book having just returned from the liturgy, where he heard St. Paul's exhortation to "pray without ceasing". The seven chapters of this book recount his journey across Russia seeking someone to teach him how to pray unceasingly.Each chapter contains what might be called a different "tale", although they are all related. The introduction contains a very long and detailed history of the various manuscripts that now make up what has been published here as "The Pilgrim's Tale" and elsewhere as "The Way of the Pilgrim" (being the first four chapters), which is often joined to "The Pilgrim Continues His Way". Truthfully, it is entirely unnecessary to read the introduction; one can just as easily begin reading the narrative itself. And, unless one really wants to learn about the impossibility of determining the authorship/s of the tales, it is rather superfluous reading for it adds nothing of any spiritual weight to the book, although it does illuminate some of the historical context between the Orthodox and the "Old Believers" who were a schismatic - and perhaps even heretical - group (they are portrayed in the Tale as being the latter) in 19th century Russia."The divine name of Jesus Christ contains in itself all Gospel truths" (75). This is one of the themes that we hear most often repeated as the Pilgrim learns "the Jesus Prayer": "Lord Jesus Christ, Some of God, have mercy on me." The purpose of unceasing prayer - "the prayer of the heart" - is for this simple prayer to move from the mind and down into the heart, where it may reside united to the body. One learns in this wonderful little book the need for meditation in which one prays the Jesus Prayer according to the rhythms of one's breathing. In this way, through repetition, the prayer of the heart becomes a type of rhythmic reminder to turn one's self to God. "If day and night were spent in prayer, there would not be any time left over for works of wickedness" (54). "Frequency of prayer is the sole means of finding pure and true prayer" (189). The teaching on unceasing prayer, found in the Philokalia (a Greek word that means "the love of the beautiful", it is the title of a collection of Orthodox ascetic and mystical writings), is explained simply but in a step-by-step manner here. For those who own the Philokalia, they can turn to it as they read the Tale for additional insight.We learn here that one must eschew all images in prayer. It is interesting that, in light of the Orthodox tradition, this image-less prayer is not actually connected to any theology of icons (that God's works may be portrayed in paintings) but to what might otherwise seem to be an actual iconoclasm. For in prayer we ought to be brought to the divine reality that God is beyond any and all images. The reason we do not entertain images in prayer is because if we do so, we are likely to grow more attached to the images than to the God whose face cannot be seen (to borrow a Biblical image).Underneath is beguilingly simple narrative structure and the enjoyability of reading it, The Pilgrim's Tale is a tremendously deep read if one is willing to let it go "out of your head and into your heart" (61). It takes some practice, really, particularly for those of us that do not have the luxury of seeking holy men and women in holy places to teach us these things. But as the recollection of God is inseperable from the presence of God - which all Christians experience in Holy Communion - one finds that the head is also not so far from the heart in prayer: a state called Grace.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good critical edition of a classic

e.h. · August 24, 2010

The Pilgrim's Tale is a great introduction to the theory and practice of the Jesus Prayer and hesychasm. The Pilgrim is a Russian peasant who wanders the country seeking for the key to 'unceasing prayer', and is instructed by an elder in the patristic and monastic teachings of the Philokalia. This work has long filled a need for concrete examples of how our lives can be transformed into the likeness of Christ through true prayer.This particular edition is valuable because of the learned introduction which discusses the authorship and context of the Tale and the agenda of the author/compiler. It might be stretching the definition of 'Western Spirituality' a bit to include a Russian work, but its classic status is undeniable.