But then, when you read how people in other eras lived out their faith, what was important to them, how they understood a normal and healthy spiritual life ... it can be eye-opening. Hopefully it reinforces much of what you've thought and experienced -- after all, Christians of any era are followers of the same Christ, members of the same Church Universal. But it might also help you see some things in a new light.

 

In that spirit, I'd like to introduce you to the teaching of Saint Ignatii Brianchaninov, a bishop and theologian in the Russian Orthodox church in the 1800s. Orthodox Church teachers emphasize the unbroken unity of their teaching, which traces back to the early Desert Fathers (and Mothers), and to the apostles in the early church. Brianchaninov was a prolific writer, and some of his works have been translated into English. Much of his writing was for priests and monks, but is considered by many to be of great value to any and all Christians. (Two examples are his excellent books "The Arena." and "On The Prayer of Jesus".)

 

Brianchaninov was asked:

 

 

So he wrote an essay, with the title The Rule for Attending to Oneself: Written for a Certain Layman As a Result of His Desire To Live A Vigilant Life In The World. It's interesting, and instructive. I'm going to quote from the essay at length, with specific headings added, to help you follow, and just a bit of editing to clarify his meaning. (If you'd like, you can read the full essay here.)

 

 

The soul of all practices in the Lord is vigilance. Without vigilance, all these practices are fruitless. He who is desirous of saving himself must so establish himself that he might remain continuously vigilant toward himself, not only in solitude, but also under conditions of distraction, into which he is sometimes unwillingly drawn by circumstances.

 

Time with God in the Morning

Upon awakening from sleep, direct your thoughts to God, offering up to Him the first-thoughts of your mind, which has not yet become imprinted with any vain impressions whatsoever.

 

Having carefully fulfilled all the needs of the flesh upon arising from sleep, quietly read your customary rule of prayer, taking care not so much for the quantity of your prayerful expression, as for the quality of it; i.e., do it attentively, so that, by reason of your attention, your heart might be enlightened and enlivened through prayerful feeling and consolation. Upon concluding your time of prayer, direct all your strength to the attentive reading of the New Testament, primarily the Gospels. In the course of this reading, intently take note of all the instructions and commandments of Christ, so that you might direct all your actions—both manifest and veiled—in accordance with them.

 

The quantity of the reading is determined by one's strength and by one's circumstances. It is unnecessary to weight-down one's mind with an excessive reading of prayers and Scripture; likewise, is it unnecessary to neglect one's needs in order to practice immoderate prayer and reading. Just as the excessive use of foodstuffs disorders and weakens the stomach, so too does the immoderate use of spiritual food weaken the mind and create in it a revulsion to pious practices, leading it to despair.

 

For the novice, the Holy Fathers suggest frequent—but brief—prayers. When one's mind matures with spiritual age, becoming stronger and more manly, then shall one be in proper condition to pray without ceasing. It is to such Christians as have attained to maturity in the Lord that the words of the Apostle Paul pertain: "Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing." (I Timothy 2:8). By this Paul means "dispassionately, and without any distraction or inconstancy." For that which is natural to the man is not yet natural to the infant.

 

 

Enlightened through prayer and reading by our Lord Jesus Christ, one may then go forth to carry out the affairs of one's daily course, vigilantly taking care that in all one's deeds and words, in one's entire being, the All-holy will of God might prevail, as it was revealed and explained to men in the Commandments of the Gospel.

 

Should there be any free moments during the course of the day, use them to read attentively some chosen prayers, or some chosen portions of Scripture; and, by means of these, fortify the powers of your soul, which have become exhausted through activity in the midst of a world of vanities.

 

Should there not be any such golden moments, it is necessary to regret their loss, as though it were the loss of a valuable treasure. What is wasted today should not be lost on the day following, because our heart conveniently gives itself up to negligence and forgetfulness, which lead to that dismal ignorance, so ruinous of Divine activity, of the activity of man's salvation.

 

What To Do When You've Sinned

Should you chance to say or to do something that is contrary to God's commandments, immediately treat your fault with repentance; and, by means of sincere contrition, return to the Way of God, from which you stepped aside through your violation of God's will. Do not linger outside the Way of God! Respond with faith and humility to sinful thoughts, reveries and sensations by opposing to them the Gospel commandments

 

 

One who is VIGILANT toward oneself must refuse himself all reverie, in general—regardless of how attractive and well-appearing it might seem, for all reverie is the wandering of the mind, which flatters and deceives it, while being outside the truth, in the land of non-existent phantoms, and incapable of realization. The consequences of reverie are: loss of VIGILANCE toward oneself, dissipation of the mind, and hardness of heart during prayer, whence comes distress of the soul.

 

 

In the evening, departing into slumber, examine your actions during the course of that day. Such [self-] examination is not difficult, since, in leading an ATTENTIVE life, that forgetfulness which is so natural to a distracted man is destroyed through VIGILANCE TOWARD ONESELF. And so, having recollected all your sins, whether through act, or word, or thought, or sensation, offer your repentance to God for them, with both the disposition and the heart-felt pledge of self-amendment. Later, having offered your prayer, conclude the day which was begun by meditating upon God by meditating, once again, upon God.

 

The great Agafon said: "It is impossible to succeed in virtue without exerting vigilance toward oneself." - Agafon, in The Patericon of Skete