Here is a beautiful and profound classic of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, to be treasured by Christians of any background. An unknown pilgrim describes his wanderings through nineteenth century Russia and Siberia, in search of a way of prayer true to what he has heard in St. Paul’s first Letter to the Thessalonians – ‘Pray without ceasing’. He learns that the answer lies in the constantly repeated use of the ‘Jesus Prayer’, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner’. Along with his Bible, he carries with him an anthology of Orthodox spiritual writings called the Philokalia, which he reads devotedly at every opportunity. How I warm to this humble, gentle man, and am fascinated by the experiences he describes and the many varied people he meets. I cannot commend these two little books highly enough. For further research you may find your reading enriched by some investigation of these topics: The Jesus Prayer The Philokalia Hesychasm (the method of prayer on which the Jesus Prayer is grounded) Being a Pilgrim