Alexis Struve

This article is a personal tribute to Father Boris Bobrinskoy, a major figure in twentieth-century French-language Orthodox theology, who recently passed away. The author, Father Alexis Struve, adopts the genre of the spiritual and pastoral portrait, blending intimate recollections with ecclesiological reflection. The central idea is that the life of Father Bobrinskoy constitutes an organic unity between theology, eucharistic celebration, and concrete pastoral work, a unity grounded in a lived experience of the Holy Spirit. The article highlights Father Bobrinskoy's contribution as heir and continuator of the Paris School, formed at Saint-Serge under Afanassieff and Kern, and as the builder of a parish community — the Crypt of the Cathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky — which became a model of local ecclesiology. It also underscores his ecumenical commitment and his conception of Tradition as lived in creative freedom.