Gregory of Sinai, or in Serbian and Bulgarian Grigorije Sinaita ( 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. 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. 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. Gregory of Sinai was the mentor of Athanasius the Meteorite, the founder of the Monastery of Great Meteoron in Meteora, Greece. Gregory's disciples also included Nicodemus of Tismana, Callistus, 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. Philokalia The Philokalia includes five works in Greek by Gregory: 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 See also Athanasius the Meteorite Constantine of Kostenets Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kiev Gregory Tsamblak Grigorije of Gornjak Grigorije Vasilije Isidore I of Constantinople Romylos of Vidin Roman of Đunis References External links Inner Light Gregory of Sinai.com Saints of medieval Greece Hesychasts Medieval Smyrna 1260s births 1346 deaths Kingdom of Candia Smyrniote Greeks 14th century in Bulgaria 14th-century Christian saints Saint Catherine's Monastery Athonite Fathers Philokalia People associated with Philotheou Monastery