On Sunday, 26 October 2025, His Eminence Metropolitan John of Dubna visited the parish of Christ the Saviour in Asnières, accompanied by Protodeacon Jean Drobot, his personal secretary and his acolytes, the readers Antoine Kadar and Pierre Benic.
The celebration of the renewed icon kept in the church of Asnières had been postponed to this date so that Metropolitan John could preside at the Divine Liturgy.
He was solemnly welcomed by Priest Serge Ciolkovitch, rector of the parish, and Deacon Constantin Starynkevitch. The choir was directed by Reader Cyrille Vassilieff, the parish’s choir director.
At the Little Entrance, Metropolitan John raised Father Serge to the rank of archpriest and addressed him:
“Dear Father Serge,
Today we wish to honour you with the title of archpriest, with the golden cross and the wearing of the kamilavka, because we are so happy about your presence here. I believe that all the parishioners join me in thanking you for your presence, so good, so pastoral, so attentive, so peaceful, in this parish which you serve with love and generosity. And so the Church wishes to say thank you with these few small things. But she recognises that you are a good servant of the altar of the Lord. And she thanks you. She says to you “Axios”: you are worthy, and we are happy to confer on you the title of archpriest, and may you continue your ministry always with so much strength, love and simplicity.”
After the reading of the Gospel, which was the parable of the sower, Metropolitan John gave the homily and invited each of us to ask ourselves whether we have been the good soil that received the seed, that is, the word of God, and whether in the course of our life we have improved the ground that received this word so as to make the good grain of God’s love grow, which we can share and distribute in our life, grafted on Christ, in connection with what the Apostle Paul says: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” The Archbishop stressed the struggle we wage so that this word may take root in our heart, in our soul and in our whole life.
At the end of the Liturgy, after pronouncing the dismissal, Metropolitan John awarded Reader Cyrille Vassilieff the Order of St Alexander Nevsky, the highest distinction of the Archdiocese, in gratitude for the many years spent in the service of the parish, whose choir he has directed since 1988.
During the agape, Father Serge thanked Metropolitan John for his archpastoral concern, and also Protodeacon Jean Drobot, the Archbishop’s secretary and the acolytes, the readers Antoine Kadar and Pierre Benic, for coming and for the solemnity that their service brought to the celebration.
The parish also presented Metropolitan John with an album containing the talk that had been given on 13 April 2024 in the church of Asnières on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the repose ofBishop Methodius (Kuhlman) of Campania and the various other occasions on which this talk had been presented. These events had been blessed and supported by our Metropolitan, but unfortunately his schedule had not allowed him to take part in them.
