Gregory of Sinai
Greek Christian saint (c. 1260s – 1346)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gregory of Sinai, or in Serbian and Bulgarian Grigorije Sinaita (c. 1260s – 27 November 1346), was a Greek Christian monk and writer from Smyrna. He was instrumental in the emergence of hesychasm on Mount Athos in the early 14th century.[1]
Smyrna (modern-day İzmir, Turkey)
Paroria, Bulgaria
Gregory of Sinai | |
|---|---|
| Saint | |
| Born | c. 1260s Smyrna (modern-day İzmir, Turkey) |
| Died | 1346 Paroria, Bulgaria |
| Honored in | Eastern Orthodoxy |
| Feast | 8 August |
Biography
Born in Smyrna, he was captured by Seljuk Turks as a young man, and eventually ransomed to Cyprus, whence he became a monk at Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula. Later, he moved to Crete, where he learned the practices of hesychasm from a monk named Arsenios. In 1310, he went to Mount Athos, where he remained until 1335. At Mount Athos, he was a monk at the Skete of Magoula near Philotheou Monastery.[2] Increasing Muslim raids on Athos pushed Gregory and some disciples into the Bulgarian Empire, where he would find protection under Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Alexander. He went on to found a monastery near Paroria, located in the Strandzha Mountains of southeast Bulgaria.[3]
Gregory's disciples also included Nicodemus of Tismana,[4] Patriarch Kallistos I of Constantinople (who wrote a life of Gregory c. 1351[5]),[6] Romylos of Vidin, Theodosius of Tarnovo, Gregory of Sinai the Younger, and Gerasimos of Euripos.
He died on 27 November 1346 in the mountains of Paroria, near present-day Zabernovo, Bulgaria.[1]
Philokalia
The Philokalia includes five works in Greek by Gregory:[7]
- On Commandments and Doctrines, Warnings and Promises; on Thoughts, Passions, and Virtues, and also on Stillness and Prayer: 137 Texts
- Further Texts
- On the Signs of Grace and Delusion, Written for the Confessor Longinos: Ten Texts
- On Stillness: Fifteen Texts
- On Prayer: Seven Texts
