Olga Pichon-Bobrinskoy

This article by Olga Pichon-Bobrinskoy traces the itinerary of Russian Orthodoxy in exile between 1922 and 1926, reconstructing the decisive role played by Prague as an intellectual and spiritual hub before the transfer to Paris. Drawing on primary sources — diaries, correspondence, student publications — the study analyzes the formation of religious circles (*kroujki*), the congresses of Šternberg and Přerov (1923), and the Brotherhood of Saint Sophia. The article shows how figures such as Bulgakov, Florovsky, and Zenkovsky developed, within a difficult pastoral context, a spiritual pedagogy grounded in liturgy and the Eucharist, in tension with a more liberal interconfessionalism. It establishes that the Prague experience constitutes the direct matrix of Parisian Orthodoxy, most notably of the Saint Sergius Institute founded in 1925, thereby contributing to illuminating the origins of the Orthodox theological renewal in the Western diaspora.

This article traces the itinerary of Russian Orthodoxy in exile, from Prague to Paris, between 1922 and 1925, a pivotal period for the Russian intellectual diaspora. Drawing on primary sources, including the diary of Father Sergei Bulgakov, the study reconstructs the decisive role played by Czechoslovakia as a land of welcome and spiritual renewal for a uprooted Christian intelligentsia. The article shows how the Prague religious circles, the congresses of Sternberg and Pcherov, and the Brotherhood of Saint Sophia structured a reflection on spiritual pedagogy and Orthodox identity in exile. Its main contribution is to demonstrate that the Prague experience constitutes the direct matrix of French Orthodoxy, particularly of the Saint Sergius Institute, by articulating liturgical renewal, intergenerational dialogue and fidelity to the patristic tradition.