A theological reflection in service of a pastoral word

This article constitutes a personal testimony by Jean Gueit, an Orthodox priest, on the decisive influence of Father Boris Bobrinskoy on his liturgical, theological and pastoral formation. The author traces his journey from his childhood in the Russian-speaking Orthodox community of Nice to his presbyteral ministry, by way of his arrival at the Crypt of the Cathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Paris in 1970. The central idea is that Father Boris embodied a synthesis between theological rigour and pastoral discernment, particularly in his differentiated approach to welcoming converts and in his liturgical practice in French. The article highlights the ecclesiological contribution of this ministry: the rediscovery of the communal dimension of the Eucharistic liturgy, inherited from the works of Afanassiev, Kern and Schmemann, and its concrete transmission in the context of French-speaking Orthodoxy in Western Europe.