Following Egeria: A Modern Pilgrim in the Holy Land

by Lawrence R. Farley

In the fourth century, a nun named Egeria traveled through the Holy Land and kept a diary of her experiences. In the twenty-first century, Fr. Lawrence Farley followed partially in her footsteps and wrote his own account of how he experienced the holy sites as they are today. Whether you’re planning your own pilgrimage or want to read about places you may never go, Following Egeria will inform and inspire you.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 3, 2015

About the author

Father Lawrence, born in 1954, completed his M. Div. at Wycliffe College, Toronto School of Theology in 1979. After 6 years in pastoral ministry with the Anglican Church of Canada, he entered the Orthodox Church and completed a Certificate program at St. Tikhon’s Seminary in Pennsylvania and was ordained to the priesthood in 1986. Since 1987 he has served as the pastor St. Herman of Alaska Church in Langley BC, a missionary parish of the OCA (Archdiocese of Canada) founded by local laity, which has since grown to attain regular parish status and purchased its own building. Several priests, deacons, and lay members of new missions have emerged from the membership of St. Herman’s. Fr. Lawrence is the author of the Orthodox Bible Study Companion Series from Conciliar Press, and of a number of other books and articles, and appears in regular weekday podcasts on Ancient Faith Radio. He lives in Surrey B.C. with his family.

Reviews

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

In God's time, my long-delayed Holy Land trip may come to fruition. This is a quick read - a travelogue of the Holy Land with an Orthodox priest, deacon, and following Egeria's path (as far as one could take it.) Though a lot of discussion of why this spot may not be historically accurate, which is fair.

Note to typsetters: Λ is also a letter with an established pronunciation, which is not analgous to an a.

[Elissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful way to journey through the Holy Land. I'm preparing for a trip, and am so glad I found this book!

[Joan D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fr. Lawrence Farley, an Orthodox priest, visited the Holy Land in 2013. Egeria, a Christian woman, perhaps from Spain, spent 3 years in the Holy Land in the years AD 381 to 384. Fr Lawrence says, "I felt myself to be following in her footsteps and copying her agenda, even if I visited only a fraction of the places she did. Like her, I also made copious notes, and unlike her, took many photos." I was aware of Egeria's story and that we had her written account of her trip, but I did not realize that much of the beginning and end of her account is lost.
I had very mixed and at times emotional reactions to Following Egeria. Reading it through Holy Week and Bright Week explained part of my reaction, I am sure. My negative response came as Fr. Lawrence disagreed with the location of some of the Christian sites in the Holy Land on his journey. He felt sure some the sites were not the actual sites as claimed. In my mind, logic and faith must not exist together, though I fully support both. That is where my emotions came in. I agree with his analysis of whether certain sites were the authentic sites of Christ's works. It all made sense, but something did not seem right doing this on a religious pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
But on the positive side of Fr. Lawrence's story, he very beautifully described the affects this trip had on him. It was beautiful. I do recommend Following Egeria.

[You Salib · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book
Spiritual points are clear
Description is not clear at times and the lack of photos to support the text is a major disadvantage

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first received the book Following Egeria, I wasn't sure what to make of it honestly. I thought to myself, "What kind of spiritual discipline is this Egeria?" I trusted the publisher (Ancient Faith Publishing) and am a fan of the author (Lawrence Farley), so I decided to give the book a chance. Looking at the back of the book, showed how foolish I was to WHO, not what Egeria was. Egeria was a nun from the 4th Century. While she was alive, she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and kept a diary of her time there. Fr. Lawrence Farley decided to follow in some of her footsteps and recorded his travels in this book.

The places visited by Fr. Farley include Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Judea, Bethany, and Galilee to name a few. Each chapter begins with a quote from Egeria on what she saw when she was there. Fr. Farley then offers his personal reflections on the location, provides Scriptural descriptions of what occurred there, and historical changes that occurred through the centuries. The most interesting chapter for me was "Recovering the Via Dolorosa." In this chapter, Fr. Farley attempts to find the true path that Jesus would have walked from His condemnation by Pilate to His Crucifixion. In this chapter, he debunks the widely accepted Via Dolorosa by telling us stop by stop which churches are wrong n their claims of what happened. For example, the Ecce Homo Basilica is not where the Roman soldiers played dice for Jesus' belongings.

I have read several books on Holy Land pilgrimages in the past year, and I will probably continue to read them until I make it there myself. The concept for this book was unique in that Fr. Farley tried to follow in some of the steps of Egeria. However, I would have preferred if the book was presented in the same order as Egeria's travels. I also think this book could have been better if it came with some pictures that Fr. Farley took. This would have the book more living and breathing. Overall, I'd give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It was interesting, but it could have been much more. I would recommend it, but I would recommend reading Egeria's diary as well, either online for free or purchasing from Amazon.