On 8 June 2025, the feast of the Holy Trinity, His Eminence Metropolitan John of Dubna made a pastoral visit to the parish of Montargis-Chalette-sur-Loing, where he presided at the Divine Liturgy on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.
Concelebrating with him were the Very Reverend Archpriest Andrey Svynarov, vice-rector of the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris and Rector of the Parish of the Holy Trinity in Montargis, the Very Reverend Archpriest Vasile Sevciuk, serving priest of the said parish, and Deacon Seraphim Dregwald. The Very Reverend Archpriest Pierre Argouet, a retired priest of our Archdiocese, attended the service.
Metropolitan John was welcomed with bread and salt, according to traditional custom, presented by the children, surrounded by the members of the Parish Council.
Then Metropolitan John was welcomed with honor by the Cossacks, under the stern and benevolent eye of their Ataman, Mr Jean Coneuf-Mironoff, churchwarden of the parish.
At the beginning of the Liturgy, the Archbishop tonsured Fabien Neyroud a reader for the parish. In his homily, Metropolitan John invited the faithful to receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts and to develop His gifts by putting them into practice in our daily lives, with love and attentiveness toward those close to us.
At the end of the service, Metropolitan John awarded the Order of St Alexander Nevsky, the highest decoration of the Archdiocese, to Ataman Jean CONEUF-MIRONOFF, churchwarden of the parish of the Holy Trinity in Chalette-sur-Loing/Montargis, as well as to: Mr Serguiy VINTONYAK, Mr Yuriy VINTONYAK, Mr Stanislav (Viatcheslav) MOUSSIENKO and Mr Oleg AXENCIUC, faithful parishioners of the said parish; and then the Medal of St Mother Maria of Paris (Skobtsova), a high decoration of the Archdiocese, to Mesdames: Jeanne OGNOV, Stelluta AXENCIUC, Catherine COINTET and Mr Alexei VOLGUINE, faithful parishioners of the said parish.
The Archbishop also expressed his gratitude to Archimandrite Nicolas for the gift of the paten and chalice, as well as the icon of the Protectress of the Cossacks, made to the parish.
During the procession, the Archbishop blessed the two commemorative plaques in memory of the centenary of the church and of General Alexander Pavlovich Kutepov, president of the Union of Russian Veterans, who received communion in this parish on Sunday, 3 November 1929, before his fatal abduction in Paris on 26 January 1930 by the OGPU, as well as the new fence of the church, in the presence of a representative of the municipality.
A generous buffet was offered by the parishioners to all the faithful present in the church garden.
