Podvig in the Orthodox tradition

[karow]

As I’ve been learning about the whys and wherefores of religious head covering I came across the term podvig , used in the context of a Russian Orthodox woman’s rationale for becoming a full-time head coverer.

Never having heard this term before I took myself off to the Orthodox Christian Information Center (orthodoxinfo.com), which seemed like a decent enough site in my opinion, where they explained that podvig has the sense of “doing more” or of choosing a personal hardship/sacrifice on one’s journey to becoming closer to God.

If I understand the term correctly, I get why this woman chooses head covering as podvig. She’s setting herself apart from society by covering (she lives in the USA’s Midwest, if I’m not mistaken), which can be difficult for someone, and she’s deliberately covering what in her mind is her best physical feature – her hair.

My questions are these:

1. Is podvig something one typically does as a Russian Orthodox?
2. Can anyone give me more examples of povig?
3. Is podvig something does for long periods of time, or is it more intended as a short-term spiritual journey (i.e., analogous to giving something up for Lent)?

Thanks in advance for any knowledge/insight/information you have about this topic. If this is a hyper-sensitive or controversial topic in the Russian Orthodox Church, I apologize if I’ve stirred anything up. That wasn’t my intention.

Please, if you want to debate the appropriateness of head covering/modesty, add your thoughts to existing threads on these topics or start a new thread of your own. Thank you.

 

[AveChriste11]

Karow,

The way I understand it is that podvig is the struggle against sin that we all must undertake in our journey towards Union with the energies of the Holy Trinity.