#MastersofSocialIsolation #13. “The Way of a Pilgrim,” published in Moscow in 1884, recounts the experience of an anonymous pilgrim of peasant origins who undertook a fantastic journey in the midnineteenth century, traversing the whole of Russia and Siberia on foot.
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Seeking from a monk the meaning of St Paul’s instruction to “pray without ceasing” he learned of the ancient Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.” He began to recite this mantra 3000 a day—which required considerable effort.
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Within weeks the pilgrim had increased the observance to 6K, then 12k times a day. Soon, he wrote, “my whole desire was fixed upon one thing only—to say the Prayer of Jesus. As soon as I went on with it I was filled with joy and relief...I lived as though in a different world.”
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The prayer became his constant companion as he continued on his solitary way. Eventually the prayer had passed from his lips to his heart. He found that he had no further need to repeat the words; they coincided with the rhythm of his own breathing and the beating of his heart.
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“Everything drew me to love and thank God; people, trees, animals. I saw them all as my kinsfolk, I found on all of them the magic of the Name of God.” Whatever befell him—whether good fortune or ill—spoke to him of God. Every face reflected back to him the face of Christ.
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