Gregory of Sinai

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Gregory of Sinai (Greek Γρηγόριος Σιναίτης Gregorios Sinaites ; * 1255 in Koukoulos near Klazomenai ( Asia Minor ); † November 27, 1346 in Paroria Monastery, Bulgaria) was a Byzantine monk and an important representative of hesychasm . He is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church .

Gregory was taken prisoner of war after 1282 and was brought to Laodikeia in Syria . Freed again, he went to Cyprus , where he became a monk in a monastery. From there he traveled to St. Catherine's Monastery on Sinai , to Jerusalem and finally to Crete . From here he went to Mount Athos , where he settled in the Skete Magoula near the Philotheou monastery . Here he led a semi- hermit life, but also had students and practiced hesychasm. Always disturbed by Turkish raids, he left Athos around 1325-1328. He went first to Thessaloniki and then to Chios . Originally he wanted to return to Athos, but then went to Constantinople via Mytilene . After six months in the capital, he went to the Paroria Monastery on Mount Katakryomenos in what is now the Strandscha Mountains . He returned once more to Constantinople and Mount Athos, but then settled permanently in the Monastery of Paroria in 1335 or shortly thereafter, where he died in 1346.

Gregory wrote numerous hymns and a treatise on hesychasm.

He is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church, and his feast day is August 8th.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Gregory of Sinai
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gregory the Sinait; Gregor Sinaites
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Monk, hesychast, saint
DATE OF BIRTH 1255
PLACE OF BIRTH Koukoulos near Klazomenai, Asia Minor
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1346
Place of death Paroria Monastery, Bulgaria