The Way of the Pilgrim: Complete Text and Reader's Guide

by Dennis J. Billy

The Way of a Pilgrim is the tale of a 19th-century peasant seeking the truth with simple humility and wandering with the Jesus Prayer across the steppes of Russia into Siberia.

Genres: Faith, Spirituality

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 2000

About the author

Rev. Dennis Joseph Billy, C.Ss.R., D.Theol., S.T.D. is a Roman Catholic priest of the Redemptorist order (Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Latin: Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris C.Ss.R) and has been Professor of the History of Moral Theology and Christian Spirituality at the Accademia Alfonsiana of The Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, Karl Rahner Professor of Catholic Theology at the Graduate Theological Foundation and John Cardinal Krol Chair of Moral Theology at St. Charles Borromeo Semininary.

Reviews

[Abraham Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Review and Thoughts:

This is one of those books I feel every Christian should read. It's truly a journey seeking out Jesus and coming to the Father in Heaven in an act of prayer.

It's a beautiful blend of a character wishing to be in the grasp of God always.

A prayer life of wordless beauty and wordless prayer that continues inside the mind, heart and soul always. A wonderful exploration of humbly seeking God through prayer. This book not only touches the inner soul, it becomes a moving tool to reach the essence of prayer.
It brings prayer to life in a form of ultimate spiritual enlightenment.

The character wishes to only know how to get closer to God through prayer. You become one with the Peasant. You walk his walk. You become his ultimate journey to God. You become the prayer life alongside him.

A dynamic approach to prayer. A spiritual journey capturing in the heart of one seeking to know God in prayer at all cost. Seek this book out. It's a quick read. It's a read that will touch you and linger with you long after it's over. I highly recommend this power book. Brilliant.

Would I return to it Again: Already have? I have highlighted so many passages from this book. It’s truly one that lingers and creates an inspirational beauty beyond words. A wonderful exploration of seeking God through prayer at all cost.

Would I Recommend. Absolutely. To anyone seeking to know God, seeking to explore faith and spirituality. This is a book that should be enjoyed, expressed, talked about in circles. Persons of faith should take this book and read it in all it’s wonderful glory.

Four Final Words: Inspiring. Touching. Brilliantly Heartfelt.

My Rating: 5 out of 5

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the structure: reading the "original" account from 19c Russia, and then the commentary on it by Fr. Billy, questions about comprehension, and applying lessons. But this does pad out a brief text of the source. For his comments tend to simply paraphrase the document. I don't think that a narrative this basic (allowing for cultural contexts and Eastern Orthodox nuances of course less familiar if at all to the Western Christians serving as this book's audience) needed so much repetitive recital of events.

Yet, this Jesus prayer (while I have heard it "Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner" this translation omits clauses two and four, the latter indicating our contemporary spin downplaying the mention of "sin" in the explication, and leaving it out of the practice advocated) is all about the beat, the heart, the pulse of making this chant so mechanical it internalizes itself like a mantra, a prayer wheel of perpetual mental motion which churns away to generate spiritual energy.

And credit to Fr. B for emphasizing what the wanderer hears from scoffers. What's the utilitarian advantage of such an individual regimen, a dynamo at first seeming isolated from us ordinary folks? His gentle interpretation shows how after withdrawal and reflection, wise counseling and disciplined asceticism, the hermit must return to the grind, tough but resilient, to minister humbly. The miracles of the titular seeker reveal for skeptical step on his quest hard to believe, but the pious may accept...

I found this in a conference center (fka as retreat house). So, trying to get into the surrounding mood I gave it a go. Glad I did as I find finished a famous resource recommended by thousands ever since...

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cornerstone book to live by. It is my bible.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m ready to pray incessantly!

[Maria Mckay]

This was a great book to read during Lent, very inspirational. I didn't get a lot out of the summaries and commentaries, however. I definitely recommend this to all Christians, but especially Eastern Christians who are familiar with the Jesus prayer but would like a deeper connection with it.