The Way of a Pilgrim

The book "Righteous tales of a Russian Pilgrim " by an unknown author tells of a pilgrim in Russia mid-19th century, which seeks to realize the Bible word " Pray without ceasing " (1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 17). It greatly contributed to the global spread of the Jesus Prayer.

Formation

The book is divided into two parts. The first printed version of the first part appeared in 1870 in Kazan ( Russia) under the title "Righteous Tales of a pilgrim, his spiritual father informed " after already manuscripts were common before. Basis for the first print was a copy, the abbot Paissii Welitschowski (1722-1794) of the Kazan Michael monastery had made on Mount Athos. 1881 appeared the second, 1884, the third edition, which is today's edition is based.

The second part of the book was published in 1911 in Moscow. The author is also unknown.

Content

The first part is an authored in the first-person report of a Russian pilgrim, whose name is not mentioned, probably from the period 1853-1861. At a church attendance of pilgrims hear the word of the Bible, "Pray without ceasing ". He wonders how he could achieve this reminder. On his trip, he meets an elder who teaches him to the Jesus Prayer, and stresses the Philokalia. Then this often reads that book and reported that it the content, thanks to the never-ending prayer time becoming clearer and more intelligible. In the further course of the first part of the pilgrims tells of his own experiences with this prayer and encounters with other people with whom he is talking about the Jesus Prayer.

The second part is a written in dialogue form prayer teaching.

The Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer is limited to the phrase " Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. " In the first instruction he learns this to pray at each bead of a rosary. At first he may the rosary only a few times " pray through ", with time more often, until finally he gets permission to pray the prayer at any time in thought or word. Over time, this constant to his companion, and leaves it no longer even while eating or talking with others.

Impact and the reception

The Jesus Prayer and the hesychast renewal were the focus of Imjaslavie ( Adoration of the Name of God) movement of Russian Orthodoxy in the early 20th century, which dealt also from this point of intensively with the font.

The Orthodox Holy Ignati Bryanchaninov who came to faith through which criticized the " righteous narratives " sharp because he is recognized large deficits and thought the Jesus Prayer was portrayed here as a simple way to salvation, with repentance and repentance are neglected.

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