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Lev Gillet

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'''Louis Gillet''', also '''Lev Gillet''', was a [[conversion|convert]] to the Orthodox faith between the World Wars through the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and was received into the Orthodox Church in Paris. He organized the first French language Orthodox parish in France.
 
==Life==
Born in 1893 in Saint-Marcellin (Isère, France), after studies of philosophy in Paris, Louis Gillet (Lev Gillet - [http://www.sobornost.org/images/photos/lev_gillet.jpg Photo]) is mobilized during the First World War, held prisoner in 1914 and spends three years in captivity, where he is attracted by the spirit and the spirituality of the [[Church of Russia|Russian]] prisoners. He studies mathematics and psychology in Geneva and joins the Benedictines in Clairvaux in 1919. Attracted by the Eastern Christian world, he becomes acquainted with [[Metropolitan]] Andreas Szeptycki of the [[Uniates|Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] in Galicia, and pronounces his final vows at the Studite [[Monastery]] of Ouniov in Galicia.
Disappointed by the attitude of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]] towards [[What is Orthodoxy|Orthodoxy]], Father Lev is received in the [[Orthodox Church]] in Paris in May 1928, and in November 1928 he becomes the [[rector ]] of the [[parish]] of [[Genevieve of Paris|Sainte-Geneviève-de-Paris]], the first [[Orthodox Church of France|French-speaking Orthodox parish]]. In 1938 he leaves Paris to settle in London, within the framework of the [[Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius|Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius]] [http://www.sobornost.org/], an [[ecumenism|ecumenical]] organization dedicated to the bringing together of the [[Anglican Communion|Anglican Church]] and the Orthodox Church. He remains in England until his death in 1980, going on many journeys abroad, in particular to France, Switzerland and Lebanon, where he takes part in the spiritual revival of [[Church of Antioch|Antiochian Orthodoxy]].
Principal publications in French (under the pseudonym "a [[monk ]] of the Eastern Church" - [http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/202-2912394-4503029?search-alias=stripbooks&field-author=Gillet,%20Lev English translations also available]) include ''The Jesus Prayer'', ''Introduction to Orthodox Spirituality'', ''The year of grace of the Lord: A commentary on the Byzantine liturgical year'', and ''Jesus, simple gazes to the Saviour''.
==Quote==
:''O strange Orthodox Church, so poor and weak, with neither the organization nor the culture of the West, staying afloat as if by a [[miracle ]] in the face of so many trials, tribulations and struggles; a Church of contrasts, both so traditional and so free, so archaic and so alive, so ritualist and so personally involved, a Church where the priceless pearl of the [[Gospel ]] is assiduously preserved, sometimes under a layer of dust; a Church which in shadows and silence maintains above all the eternal values of purity, poverty, [[asceticism]], [[humility ]] and forgiveness; a Church which has often not known how to act, but which can sing of the joy of [[Pascha ]] like no other.''-- from Fr Lev's 1937 funeral homily for [[Archimandrite Irénée (Louis-Charles) Winnaert]], the founder of the [[Orthodox Church of France]]
==Source==
==Further reading==
====Writings by Fr. Lev Gillet==== =====Books=====*''The Jesus Prayer''*''On the Invocation of the Name of Jesus''*''The Burning Bush''*''In Thy Presence''*''Communion in the Messiah''*''Jesus: A Dialogue with the Saviour''*''Orthodox Spirituality: An Outline of the Orthodox Ascetical and Mystical Tradition''*''The Year of Grace of the Lord: A Commentary on the Byzantine Liturgical Year'' =====Articles=====* [http://www.syndesmos.org/en/texts/files/Text_85%20The%20Vision,%20editorial,%20Lev%20Gillet,%201972.pdf Father Lev Gillet. The Vision. ''Syndesmos News'' 1972 Dec, No 8(PDF)] ([http://www.coptichymns.net/module-pagesetter-viewpub-tid-1-pid-309.html mirror (HTML)])
* [http://www.coptichymns.net/module-pagesetter-viewpub-tid-1-pid-155.html Father Lev Gillet. The Jesus Prayer]
* [http://www.coptichymns.net/index.php?module=pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=1&pid=412 Father Lev Gillet. Finding Peace Despite the Suffering]
 
====Other material====
* [http://www.jacwell.org/spring_summer2000/father_lev_gillet.htm Father Michael Plekon. Father Lev Gillet: The Monk in the City, a Pilgrim in many worlds]
* [http://www.pagesorthodoxes.net/foi-orthodoxe/temoignage-lev-gillet.htm Élisabeth Behr-Sigel. Père Lev Gillet : La crise et le dénouement (French)]
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/2204048860/ Élisabeth Behr-Sigel. ''Lev Gillet, "un moine de l'Eglise d'Orient": Un libre croyant universaliste, évangélique et mystique (L'Histoire à vif)'' (English translation: ''Lev Gillet, a : A Monk of the Eastern Church - book in French'', Fellowship of St Alban & St Sergius, 1999)]
[[Category:Modern Writers]]
[[Category:Monastics]]
[[Category:Converts to Orthodox Christianity|Gillet]]
[[Category:Converts to Orthodox Christianity from Roman Catholicism|Gillet]]
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