To the mystic, prayer is not an occasional petition to God, but full-time work as tangible and varied in technique as anything a man can make with hand or mind. Sometimes a mystic is able to leave behind some manual or blueprint to help others with the work of prayer.
One delicately wrought signpost to the spiritual life is a small book, apparently written some time in the mid-19th century and published in Russian under the title: Candid Narratives of a Pilgrim to His Spiritual Father. Its author is unknown, its exact date uncertain. It made its first appearance in manuscript form...