The Way of a Pilgrim

Christ the Redeemer, by Andrei Rublev, c 1410, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

The Candid Narrative of a Pilgrim to His Spiritual Father, better known in English as The Way of a Pilgrim, is an Eastern Orthodox ‘hesychast’ text that was published anonymously in 1881. The book’s authorship has long been a matter of debate, but it appears that its first three sections may have been written by Archimandrite Mikhail Kozlof, and the last four by Arsenii Troepolsky. The Way of a Pilgrim, written for ordinary people, for those not called upon to devote their lives to serving God, is about the importance of contemplation and the search for the kingdom of heaven within oneself. At its core is the ‘Jesus Prayer’, consisting of the words ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’, which is supposed to be recited incessantly, not unlike a mantra, so that it becomes an intrinsic part of one’s being.

At the beginning of the book, the nameless Pilgrim sets off on a journey with the intention of following the apostle Paul’s injunction to ‘pray without ceasing’, the implications of which he does not fully understand, and in due course he finds an elder, or starets, who becomes his adviser and introduces him to the Jesus Prayer and to the Philokalia, the foundational hesychast text. ‘Hesychasm’, the spiritual practice of quietness, stillness, and contemplation, is a tradition that can be traced back to 3rd Century hermits, the Desert Fathers and Mothers, and which was subsequently taught and practiced in many Eastern Christian monasteries. The prayer is now embraced by lay and non-secular people, but Orthodox believers hold it to be inseparable from the sacraments and liturgy of the Church, and only intended for those who are living within its framework. The symbolic ‘opening’ of the heart is considered to be the essential purpose of the Jesus Prayer, but it is also said to help master passions of both soul and body.

Western familiarity with The Way of a Pilgrim is sometimes attributed to the influence of J.D.Salinger’s bestselling novel, Franny and Zooey, which was published in 1961 after first appearing in ‘The New Yorker’ some years earlier. Salinger’s interest in different religious practices and philosophies - among them Sufism, theistic existentialism, psychoanalysis, Zen, and Vedanta, as well as the Jesus Prayer - was deeply embedded in his stories, which were always set in the everyday objective world; he nevertheless chose not to interpret or reflected on spiritual ideas directly, preferring to have them discussed or alluded to by his characters. In Franny and Zooey, for instance, in which the practice and philosophical implications of hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer play a major part, it is the pithy and astute descriptions of Franny and her family, as well as their witty and amusing dialogue, that most readily engage the reader’s attention.

Consciously or otherwise, the novel echoes the ethos of The Way of a Pilgrim, in which spirituality is inseparable from ordinary life. The story tells of Franny Glass, a young college student disillusioned with the world, and her older brother, Zooey, who tries to guide her through an emotional crisis. In the first part of the book Salinger provides the background to Franny’s troubles, deftly describing the reasons for her disenchantment, and how she has adopted the Jesus Prayer as a way of bringing herself some solace. In the second, Franny is convalescing in her parents’ New York apartment, trying to come to terms with her breakdown, while Zooey, acting like the starets in The Way of a Pilgrim, gives advice and helps her along the spiritual path. He recognises that Franny, although she is devoted to the prayer, does not fully grasp its purpose and meaning, and that she is using it as a way of covering up her despair. Zooey, a young actor who doesn’t takes himself too seriously and is aware of his own shortcomings, encourages Franny, who is far more earnest, to acknowledge good in the world, however commonplace, and to develop humility and detachment, gently leading his sister towards a moment of enlightenment. The beauty of the brief book lies in Salinger’s skill in conveying his spiritual message in a light and sophisticated way, using both humour and charm to do so.

Like Franny and Zooey, the fundamental teaching of The Way of a Pilgrim is simple. The Pilgrim relates the circumstances of his life, making it clear that he has experienced the material world and has found it wanting; it becomes obvious that he neither needs it nor fits into it in a conventional way. Describing his encounters with other outcasts, such as thieves, criminals, drunkards, and madmen, knowing that he might be thought to be one of them, he suggests that only spirituality, not reformation, can redeem them. The starets tells the Pilgrim how to say the prayer: ‘Sit down in silence. Lower your head, shut your eyes, breathe out gently, and imagine yourself looking into your own heart. Carry your mind, that is, your thoughts, from your head to your heart. As you breathe out, say, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.’ Say it moving your lips gently, or simply say it in your mind. Try to put all other thoughts aside. Be calm, be patient, and repeat the process very frequently’. At first the Pilgrim says the prayer six thousand times a day, and then, following the starets' advice, he doubles it. Soon the Pilgrim finds that the prayer is on his lips and in his mind all the time, as spontaneous and effortless as his breath.

The Jesus Prayer still echoes occasionally within contemporary culture: the composer John Tavener, a convert to Orthodox Christianity, set it to music for the singer Björk, who recorded the composition with the Brodsky Quartet. Entitled ‘Prayer of the Heart’, its words are repeated in Greek, Coptic, and English. A recent and bleak Russian film, ‘The Island’, a fictional account of a contemporary Eastern Orthodox monk who develops the gifts of prophecy and healing, begins with its repetition.

For further exploration:

The text of ‘The Way of a Pilgrim’: https://desertfathers.webs.com/thewayofthepilgrim.htm

A long academic article on J.D. Salinger and Orthodox Christianity: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/8/555

An informative Yale lecture on ‘Franny and Zooey’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toql5jGSDBU

John Tavener and Björk, ‘Prayer of the Heart’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvL8JxjPRdw

‘The Island’, in full: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz-vegualMg

Mihail Nesterov, 1914