Podvig
Any Orthodox Christian who does even the
least bit of spiritual reading will come across the word “podvig.” While this
word can be described, it cannot be translated into one single English word —
which is why we continue to use, and must therefore learn to understand, this
Russian term.
The word itself has been defined as “spiritual struggle”. Like so many things
in Orthodoxy, in doing it, we understand it within our souls even if we cannot
explain it. In performing a podvig, we find it as a means of drawing nearer to
Christ as we travel along the path of salvation.
We bear the scars of sin in our bodies which drags us down to the earth like a
magnet, yet our soul longs to ascend to the heights. As man, composed of body
and soul, we find the two opposing each other. Even St. Paul says I cannot
understand my own behavior. I fail to carry out the things I want to do, and I
find myself doing the very things I hate.... for though the will to do what is
good is in me, the performance is not, with the result that instead of doing
the good things I want to do, I carry out the sinful things I do not want.
As Orthodox Christians, we know that we must labor toward purification,
illumination, theosis (deification). The first step of purifying ourselves from
the passions, from all which draws us away from God and shackles us from
ascending to the heights, employs the use of podvig.
St. Theophan the Recluse defines our entire Christian life as podvig. He
explains that the spirit hates sin, while the flesh dwells in it. How is this
battle within ourselves to be resolved? Through podvig, that spiritual struggle
of bringing the soul into mastery over the body.
The Church gives us the directions for doing this through fasting,
prostrations, standing in prayer, etc. All of these things oppose the body, and
as we fulfill these ascetical practices, we do indeed find that they help us
draw nearer to our Creator and Savior. As we aspire to deepen our souls in
Christ we find that we want to do more, to go beyond what the Church has
already told us are the necessary first steps.
Podvig is precisely that “doing more”.
According to St Theophan “all the saints accept the only true path to virtue to
be pain and hard work... lightness and ease are a sign of a false path. Anyone
who is not struggling, not in podvig, is in prelest” (spiritual delusion) (The
Path to Salvation, pg 209).
Our Lord said, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross, and follow me (Matt. 16:24). St Innocent, in his book, Indication
of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven, writes clearly that the way which
leads to the kingdom of Heaven is precisely to deny oneself, take up the cross,
and follow Christ. Our beloved American saint goes on to explain that “to deny
oneself means to give up one’s bad habits, to root out of the heart all that
ties us to the world...there are external and internal crosses. To take up
one’s cross means not only to bear crosses laid on us by others or sent by
Providence, but ...even to lay crosses upon oneself and bear them.”
This is a clear direction to podvig.
When we take up an additional cross, a podvig, with the blessing of our
spiritual father, we find that the Lord Himself comes and helps us to carry
that cross, walking side by side with us. Isn’t this what we long for? To have
the Lord near, to be close to Him?
All of podvig is a form of repentance, of turning around and getting back unto
the correct path. Because it is so intricately linked to repentance, no one
should ever undertake a specific podvig without the approval of his father
confessor/spiritual father. The evil one is very crafty and he wants nothing
more than to drag us into the same pride through which he fell. He will try to
use the very means with which we are trying to overcome our sins to lead us
into the sin of pride. Yes, we can become prideful and vain glorious over our
own podvig! In fact, it frequently happens that an astute spiritual guide will
tell his spiritual child to abandon his podvig.
When we take on a podvig it is for the sake of opposing the body which draws us
down to the earth and away from God. Do I eat too much? Then I must take a
podvig of additional fasting or denying myself the special foods in which I
tend to indulge Am I lazy? Then I need to work harder. Do I not want to get out
of bed in the morning? Then get up earlier to pray. The list goes on and each
person, with the help of his father confessor, knows which vices particularly
afflict him. Every vice has an opposing virtue and in striving toward that
virtue, the vice can, with the help of God (for nothing can be accomplished
without prayer and grace from the Lord!), be overcome, or at least lessened to
a great degree.
Any podvig can be for the sake of opposing a passion with which we are afflicted,
as stated above, but we can also take on a podvig as a form of prayer for
ourselves, our families or any other person. An example of this could be the
parent who has a sick child. In addition to praying for that child, the parent
can take on a podvig of additional prostrations and/or fasting as an extra
effort with that prayer.
Indeed, we not only can, but should, add a
podvig to our prayers of petition to the Lord.
Throughout the centuries we can see in the history of the Christian Church that
living the life of a Christian meant podvig. The early centuries saw hundreds
of thousands of martyrs, many known to us by name, but the majority of them
unknown. In the more recent history we have witnessed decades of conununist
oppression which produced thousands of martyrs and confessors for the faith —
those individuals who refused to deny Christ and suffered beyond description.
Being a Christian meant podvig. It has also been clear throughout the ages that
when Christians became lax, when externals were emphasized and not the interior
life, when abuses and corruption crept into the Church, podvig came from
outside in the form of Islamic or conununist persecution. Both individually and
collectively, we must realize that if we do not accept and seek podvig
ourselves, it will be imposed upon us!
While most of the faithful accept and observe the fasting days and seasons —
and recognize the spiritual benefits from them — we have lost the concept of
taking any other additional fasting upon ourselves as a form of podvig. While
we give willingly and cheerfully to the poor and to the Church, it is rarely to
the point of denying ourselves of any necessities from those resources. We
accept our daily prayer rule, but where are the prostrations outside of Great Lent?
All of the things listed above (and there are indeed many, many more, depending
on the individual) can be a form of podvig.
The Christian life in this fallen world is a struggle. If we are not
struggling, then are we on the right path? When all is going well, we tend to
let our focus stray away from God, while in hardship we seek Him.
We should always remember that Adam was in paradise where he lacked for
nothing, but it was there that he lost that perfect communion with God. When
did he find Him again? When the Lord descended into hades, grasped his hand and
delivered him and all those who had been held there.
From The Veil, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Summer, 2005). The Veil is a publication of the Protection of the Holy Virgin Orthodox Monastery. Free subscriptions to The Veil are available by writing or calling the convent: 2343 County Road 403,
Lake George, CO 80827; 719-748-3999. Posted on 1/2/2007 with the permission of the convent.
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