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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]].
[[Category:Monastics]]
[[Category:Converts to Orthodox Christianity|Gillet]]
[[Category:Converts to Orthodox Christianity from Roman Catholicism|Gillet]]