Choose Hard for Body, Mind, & Soul
PODVIG LETTER NO. 0
St. Irenaeus of Lyons
A second-century bishop who received the apostolic faith and handed it on.
1. READING THE ICON
St. Irenaeus of Lyons
Irenaeus stands before us not as an isolated genius, but as a bishop who received and handed on a living tradition. The Gospel he bears did not originate with him. The blessing he offers is not his private possession.
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This is not a portrait from life. The icon presents Irenaeus as the Church remembers him: standing before us as a bishop, bearing the Gospel and the staff entrusted to him.
Before reading further, let your gaze rest on Irenaeus. Attend to his face, the book, his garments—what the Church calls liturgical vestments—the crosses embroidered on them, and the slender staff. But do not rush to interpret them.
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Look at the icon for one uninterrupted minute. Do not begin by analyzing it. Behold it.
THEN ASK
What first held your attention? Remain there. What might the icon be asking you to receive?
2. FROM THE FATHERS
The Patience of Becoming
"It was possible for God Himself to have made man perfect from the first, but man could not receive this perfection."
~St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies IV.38.1
Irenaeus does not imagine the human person as a finished thing that has merely become damaged. We are creatures made to grow—capable of receiving God, but not capable of receiving everything at once.
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God does not despise this creaturely slowness. In Christ, He enters it. The Son passes through infancy, childhood, maturity, suffering, and death, gathering the whole human journey into Himself.
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Growth, then, is not evidence that grace has failed. It is one of the forms grace takes. We receive what we can bear, become capable of receiving more, and are slowly brought toward maturity in God.
CARRY THIS
Where are you demanding instant transformation when God may be teaching you to grow?
3. FROM THE SCRIPTURES
Changed by Beholding
“We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image.”
~2 Corinthians 3:18
Scripture does not separate seeing from becoming. What we repeatedly behold enters us, tutors our desires, and gradually gives shape to our lives.
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An icon does not ask for a passing glance. It asks us to remain before a human life transfigured by communion with Christ. Irenaeus looks toward us so that, through him, our attention may be turned toward the Lord he received, defended, and handed on.
BEHOLD AGAIN
Return to the icon. This time, look at the face. What kind of attention is being asked of you?