30th anniversary of Église Saint-Benoît-de-Nursie, Montréal, QC

His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, made his pastoral visit to Montreal on July 13 and 14. This is Vladyka’s first trip abroad since his election as Metropolitan of All America and Canada in November 2012.
There were two official reasons for this visit: 30 year anniversary of the establishment of St. Benedict of Nursia parish - the first in North America French-speaking Orthodox parish; and 35th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood of His Grace Irénée’s (Rochon), Bishop of Quebec City and Administrator of the Archdiocese of Canada.

As mentioned by Vladyka Tikhon, the current liturgy was special for him for another important reason. Though by birth he is half French, and spent most of his life in France, this is the first time he had a chance to serve the liturgy in French from beginning to end.
At the end of the Liturgy before release, Vladyka awarded St. Tikhon's medals and gramotas to four of the oldest members of the choir who were directly involved in the establishment of the parish in 1983. He also thanked
Catherine Mitchell for her many years of selfless work for the benefit of the parish. After the Liturgy all who were present were invited to a modest friendly dinner, organized by the parishioners.
As it turned out, there was another occasion for celebration, this time less formal. It was bishop Tikhon’s birthday that falls on July 15. The choir sang not only “God grant you many years” in three-languages, but also the traditional American birthday jingles. Meanwhile, the parishioners ate birthday cake with an undetermined number of candles.

The original article in Russian is at http://www.pravmir.ru/vizit-mitropolita-tixona-v-monreal/