Choose Hard for Body, Mind, & Soul
BEFORE THE FIRST LETTER ARRIVES
Enter the Gates
Experience a Podvig Letter
Before the first physical Letter is mailed, you are invited to walk through the rhythm it begins.
This is not merely a description of Podvig. It is an opportunity to begin.
ST. IRENAEUS OF LYONS
A second-century bishop who received the apostolic faith and handed it on.
The original handwritten Letter No. 0
A PERSONAL WORD
Every Letter Begins by Hand
Each Podvig Letter begins with a handwritten introduction—a personal word from me to you before the month's books, images, passages, questions, and practices unfold.
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The handwriting is part of the form. It asks both writer and reader to slow down. This is correspondence, not another stream of content: something personal, deliberate, and worth keeping.
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PODVIG LETTER NO. 0
Read the Introduction
PODVIG LETTER No. 0
Commemoration of St. Phocas the Gardener
Anno Domini 2026, September 22
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Dear Friend,
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Podvig begins with a letter.
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Not because paper is more sacred than a screen, but because something received by hand asks for a different kind of attention. First, you have to open it. Then you actually hold it in your hands. After reading it, you might leave it on your desk or tuck it into a book to be carried with you or delightfully rediscovered at a later time. Its words remain present, waiting to be read again.
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This first Letter is numbered zero because it stands at the threshold. Its subject is St. Irenaeus of Lyons: a second-century bishop who received the apostolic faith, carefully guarded it against distortion, and faithfully handed it on.
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Irenaeus understood the human person as a creature still being formed. We were made by God, but we were not made finished. The God who formed the body does not discard it—and will not. (We will encounter this more fully later in St. Athanasius's On the Incarnation.) In Christ, God restores His creation and brings the whole human person gradually toward maturity and fullness of life.
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That is why Irenaeus can guide us into the question at the heart of Podvig:
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WHO ARE YOU BECOMING?
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This month, "Behold. Practice. Become." is the rhythm by which you will encounter him:
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BEHOLD. Attend to his words and witness.
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PRACTICE. Give one received truth bodily form.
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BECOME. Notice what faithful attention begins to shape in you.
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You are not being asked to master everything gathered here. Receive it. Notice what arrests your attention. Choose one practice. The larger question, "Who are you becoming?" will remain with us throughout the month.
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But we will enter it through a smaller doorway:
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WHAT HAVE I RECEIVED?
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WHAT AM I RESPONSIBLE TO HAND ON?
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Do not rush to answer it. Begin small. Carry the question. When you forget, begin again.
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~Erin
Words Worth Keeping
Choose Hard for Body, Mind, & Soul
DIGITAL PREVIEW · BEHOLD