When it is said
It is the hymn of the Orthodox blessing for a journey, a service of prayer a priest holds for those about to travel.
A Russian prayer book also prints it for prayer at home, first among the prayers to the Lord for travellers. Put in the name of the one who travels.
Where it comes from
No author known
The hymn of the blessing for a journey
The Russian Church’s book of hours, the Chasoslov, sets out a service of prayer “For travellers”, and this troparion is its hymn. In the full Rite of Blessing for a Journey it is sung after the verses “God is the Lord”. A second hymn follows it, to the Saviour Who went with Luke and Cleopas to Emmaus.
The Church Slavonic book of hours (Chasoslov), on Azbyka.ru; Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book (1906): the Rite of Blessing for a Journey
Jesus’s own words
The hymn opens with words Jesus said of Himself: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” That passage from John’s Gospel is the Gospel read in the same blessing for a journey. It begins with Jesus telling His disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled.”
Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book (1906): the Rite of Blessing for a Journey
What the words mean
Who was Tobias?
Tobias is the young man of the Book of Tobit. He went looking for someone to travel with him to Media. A man offered to go with him: “I know the way well.” It was the angel Raphael, though Tobias did not know it. So the hymn asks Christ to send His angel with the traveller, as He did for Tobias.
The Scripture in it
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Church Slavonic
Путь и Истина сый, Христе, спутника Ангела Твоего рабом Твоим (рабу Твоему, рабе Твоей) ныне, якоже Товии иногда, посли,
сохраняюща и невредимых, к славе Твоей, от всякого зла во всяком благополучии соблюдающа,
молитвами Богородицы, Едине Человеколюбче.
From the Russian Orthodox prayer book (Molitvoslov) on Azbyka.ru, from the Rite of Blessing for a Journey.