Valeria Alfeyeva's novel Pilgrimage to Dzhvari: A Woman's Journey of Spiritual Awakening caused quite a stir in the Soviet Union in 1989 when it appeared in a literary magazine. Set in the last days of the Soviet regime, it focuses on the spiritual journey of Veronica, a journalist. Following the death of her husband, she and her teenage son Mitya decide to visit a famous Eastern Orthodox monastery. They want to deepen and enrich their understanding of this mystical faith.
Veronica's challenge is to put aside her intellectual concepts of Christianity. She prays, meditates, looks at icons, and is taught about the ascetic life. She finds herself calmed and observes, "the more everyone tastes religious life, in the liturgy or in prayer, the less they need to create an external world. On the contrary, meaning is found in silence."
Years pass and Veronica's son becomes a monk. She ponders the great mysteries which are part and parcel of her faith and comes to see that "each person is precious in the eyes of the Lord, and the soul is dearer than all the treasures of the world." Most of all, Veronica realizes the symbolic importance of the Transfiguration and the light that shines within. Pilgrimage to Dzhvari offers a rare look at the unique spiritual practices of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.