Bishop John-Nectarius (french: évêque Jean-Nectaire, secular name Evgraf Evgrafovich Kovalevsky, russian: Евграф Евграфович Ковалевский; April 8, 1905 January 30, 1970), was the First Hierarch of the

Orthodox Church of France The Orthodox Catholic Church of France (french: Église catholique orthodoxe de France), formerly Orthodox Church of France (OCF, french: Église orthodoxe de France), is an Eastern Orthodox church in France comprising three dioceses and using the ...

(ECOF) from 1966 until his death in 1970. He was the brother of the

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

and musicologist Maxime Kovalevsky (19031988) and the historian Pierre Kovalevsky (19011979).

Life

Eugraph Kovalevsky was born in St Petersburg, Russia, on April 8, 1905 in noble family. He was co-founder with

Vladimir Lossky Vladimir Nikolaievich Lossky (russian: Влади́мир Никола́евич Ло́сский; 1903–1958) was a Russian Eastern Orthodox theologian exiled in Paris. He emphasized '' theosis'' as the main principle of Eastern Orthodox Christi ...

of the Brotherhood of St. Photius (1925) and the St Denys Institute (1944). He was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

of the

Moscow Patriarchate , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Eleutherius (Bogoyavlenky) in 1937. Upon the death of

Archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

Irénée (Louis-Charles) Winnaert, he was placed in charge of the newly formed Western Orthodox Church established by Metropolitan Sergius, the Patriarchal '' locum tenens'' of Moscow. The Holy Synod of the Church of Russia conferred upon him the title Doctor of Divinity in 1952. In 1966, he was tonsured by Saint

John Maximovitch Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco (russian: Иоанн Шанхайский и Сан Францисский, Ioann Shankhayskiyi i San Frantsiskyi; secular name Mikhail Borisovich Maximovitch, russian: Михаил Борисович Ма ...

, given the monastic name of Jean-Nectaire, consecrated bishop (with the assistance

Theophilus (Ionescu) of Sèvres Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (God) and φιλία (love or affection) can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God", i.e., it is a theoph ...

), and installed as the first Bishop of Saint-Denis in the modern era, making him the bishop of the Western Rite diocese now known as the

. He died on 30 January 1970.

Death and canonisation

Bishop John died on January 30, 1970. He was canonised as a saint on 12 October 2008 by Bishop Gregory of Arles.

Writings

His major published works are # ''La Sainte Messe selon l'ancien rite des Gaules ou Liturgie selon S. Germain de Paris. Le canon eucharistique de l'ancien rite des Gaules''. # ''Homélies. Quelques enseignements spirituels donnés en l'Eglise Saint Irénée''. # ''Message de Noël''. # ''Pierre et Paul. Leur signification. Leur place dans la tradition chrétienne catholique orthodoxe''. # ''Quarante Degrés ou quarante Immolation de Carême''. # ''La Sainte Messe selon St Germain de Paris et le chant des fideèles''. # ''Initiation à la Genèse''. # ''Technique de la prière''. (Published in English as ''A Method of Prayer for Modern Times,'' Praxis, 1993, ). # ''Le chemin de la vie et la destinée de l'âme après la mort''. # ''Ezéchiel''. # ''Le mystère des origines''. # ''Initiation trinitaire''. # ''La liturgie céleste''. # ''Marie, Vierge et Mère''. # ''Les chemins de l'homme''. # ''Le Verbe incarné''. # ''La quête de l’Esprit''. # ''Le sens de l'exode''. # ''Le carême''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:John Of Saint-Denis 1905 births 1970 deaths 20th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Western Orthodox Christians