Western Renaissance and Orthodox Revival

Before talking about the main revivers and bearers of hesychasm in the fourteenth century, such as St. Gregory the Sinaite and his spiritual successors, it is necessary to give some characteristics of their epoch and the mentality of their contemporaries. have had a strong impact on subsequent generations. This connection of the centuries with the XIV century is of great interest to researchers, especially in recent years. The XIV century in the history of mankind was marked by extreme instability, social instability, sharp political and ideological struggle. Characterizing this period, G. M. Prokhorov says: "In the history of European public consciousness, the fourteenth century completes the thousand-year reign of medieval values. The Renaissance was coming, the revival of pagan antiquity in its self-consciousness, the dialectical conclusion of the European Middle Ages in the internal logic of its development. The God-Man as the highest "reigning" value in society was pressed by Man, the State, and the People" [91, p. 3]. The desire to restore pagan antiquity inevitably led to an ideological crisis, the hotbed of which in the Eastern European Orthodox countries was Byzantium. "The ideological crisis, in the course of which the revision of its culture took place in Byzantium, was," says G. M. Prokhorov, "a clash of two differently directed individualistic currents (emphasis added). — I.P.): rationalistic humanism and contemplative hesychasm" [91, p. 4].This clash was expressed in the hesychastic disputes that took place in the 30s-60s of the XIV century in Byzantium. Modern scientists come to the conclusion that they laid the foundation for a new era in the life of mankind. Hence such a close interest in all the processes that took place at that time. The new era, according to scientists, is characterized by the emergence of two spiritual and cultural trends with their own ideas about the purpose and purpose of man. The Hesychast disputes, according to G. M. Prokhorov, "were the point of meeting and divergence of the two European Renaissances (emphasis added). — I.P.) at the very beginning of their journey" [91, p. 8]. Each of them had its own path of movement: one went along a non-ecclesiastical channel and became known in history as the Western European Renaissance; the other, the Orthodox Renaissance, moved along the ecclesiastical path. Periods of revival have repeatedly taken place at various stages of human history, since all Renaissance phenomena, no matter how different they may be from one another in their external manifestation, have "a single core—an interest in the human personality" [132, p. 6]. The presence of this interest and its intensity determine the emergence of Renaissance phenomena. "If we make global generalizations, we will see that everyone is social. The organism has two poles: on one of them are the interests of the individual, the indivisible; on the other, the interests of society, of the whole. The interaction between them determines the dynamics of social life. The dominance of the individual creates favorable conditions for spiritual and cultural upliftment, but ultimately weakens the whole. The predominance of the whole allows society and the state to overcome crisis phenomena and act as a monolithic force outside, but this situation hinders the development of internal creative forces and gradually leads to stagnation and decline. Looking at the evolution of human civilization from this point of view, it is easy to notice its cyclicality, conditioned by the alternation of personal and transpersonal, substantial phases" [132, p. 7]. If we correlate personal phases with the epochs of the Renaissance, then we can identify a certain pattern. Thanks to the cyclical nature of human development, thanks to the constant appeal to the past, humanity gets the opportunity to find answers to the painful questions of its time. It is not surprising that in the 20th century, interest in the Renaissance and their origins increased significantly. What are their prerequisites? The fourteenth century was a century of intense struggle between the West and the East. "In the fourteenth century, Europe was cut from north to south, from Scandinavia to the island of Crete, by a clearly visible front line, over which Catholic banners fluttered," writes G. M. Prokhorov. "The period of the Crusades in the Middle East ended, and the time of struggle against Eastern European pagans and 'schismatics' began" [95: p. 8; cf. 128: p. 9]. The papal curia became the ideological center of the attacking side. In 1302, Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed that "every human being is subject to the Roman high priest" [cited by: 95, p. 89]. Catholics took this statement as a program of action.By the fourteenth century, philosophical differences between East and West were also clearly outlined. The Western philosophical tradition has tried to construct a comprehensible, understandable plan of the universe. At the same time, an antagonistic opposition of thought and feeling was outlined in it. Greek and Byzantine philosophy, on the other hand, strove for synthesis, strove "to feel every thought and to think over every feeling—and this is not separately, not in turn, but at once. This is precisely where the main feature lies: not thought and feeling in their European antagonism, but a merged feeling-thought transmitted in a living tradition. In accordance with this, the Greeks believed that the mind draws strength from the heart" [95, pp. 90-91].Thanks to this understanding, the preaching of hesychasm with the method of attention and mental action fell on the prepared ground and was easily perceived. The hesychasts became the spokesmen of Byzantine public opinion and gave the last creative synthesis of its traditional culture. The broad cultural and social movement they initiated led to the renewal of the spiritual life of medieval society and the revival of Orthodoxy throughout Eastern Europe. The hesychastic teaching consistently and convincingly reveals the essence of Orthodoxy. "The mystical and antinomic teaching of the hesychasts was the antithesis of Thomism, the official ideology of Rome, and from this point of view the hesychastic disputes marked a deeper watershed between the two faiths than the conflicts of the times of the Constantinople patriarchs Photius and Michael Cerularius" [133: p. 293]. It was for this reason that the hesychasts were attacked by the Roman Catholics, although there seemed to be no visible, external reasons for this. This also gave rise to a different orientation in the development of Christian cultures. As the priest Igor Ekonomtsev says, "two poles have formed: on one (Eastern Christianity. — I.P.) there is a creative person who creates in synergy with God; on the other (Western Christianity. — I.P.) — a person who dares to create independently" [132, p. 9].Thus, in the fourteenth century, in the era of instability, social instability and all kinds of disorders, ideological and political struggle, the individual comes to the fore. "The fourteenth century is anthropocentric. Its representatives cannot be divided into humanists and non-humanists. At that time everyone was humanists" [132, p. 9]. But, of course, the humanism of the representatives of the Western Renaissance and Orthodox hesychasm was different. Byzantine hesychasts and rational humanists were opponents and understood many important things differently, but they solved the same problems, spoke the same language, and the focus of attention of both was the human being. In this sense, the concept of "Christian humanism" is applicable to hesychasm. "Byzantine hesychasts and humanists (of the Western persuasion. — I.P.) argued not about abstrusely abstract philosophical-scholastic propositions, but about the nature of man" [75, p. 305]. The division of Christian cultures paved the way for the emergence of rationalistic humanism. Its main feature, according to V. Velchev, is "anthropocentrism as the beginning of opposition to the theocentrism of the medieval religious worldview" [48, p. 244]. Interest is transferred to man in his isolation from God. The emphasis is placed on the self-consciousness of man, on confidence in his self-worth, in his ontological and moral autonomy and independence in relation to the super-earthly forces standing outside him. From this follows the secularization of thought, the desire to realize knowledge only with one's own reason and to create without divine participation.Rationalist humanism also determined a new attitude to nature, which was expressed in an increased interest in the natural sciences based on experience and reason.Further, rationalist humanism, which was the basis of the Western Renaissance, is also characterized by a peculiar attitude to the past: the exaltation of ancient, classical Greco-Roman antiquity. Thus, for example, one of the founders of the Western Renaissance, Dante, Alighieri, introduced into a new circulation the ancient ancient idea, which later became "the vital nerve of all the activity of humanists, who with tireless inspiration inspired and for a long time assimilated it to the world. This is the thought of posthumous glory" [130, p. 17]. Dante developed a theory of glory that has survived to this day. A poet, according to him, can immortalize himself with his creations, he can immortalize others, mentioning them in his works. This illusion of immortality was contrasted by Western humanists with the real immortality promised by Christ after the general resurrection, of which the Church speaks.The successor of Dante's ideas was Francesco Petrarch, who became the main figure of the Western Renaissance. He "introduced the principle of humanism into the intellectual ferment of the new world. Petrarch not only showed the way to humanism, but also followed it to the end" [130, p. 23]. Mastering the ancient pagan worldview, Petrarch also developed his own, on which he mainly relied in his polemical writings. Following his principle of humanism, Petrarch manifested himself in various spheres of human life and activity, and everywhere in his isolation and even opposition to the God-established path. "His intellectual activity and propaganda of purely spiritual aspirations," says G. Voigt, "are indefinable, there is something demonic in them" [130, p. 68].Petrarch and his like-minded person Boccaccio did not ignore the issues of aesthetics and music. Under their influence, in the fourteenth century, the principle of Renaissance aesthetics was gradually laid, and the connection of music with pleasure and pleasure was asserted.All the principles of the new art were dictated only by "the needs of sensory perception, which requires a variety of consonances, rhythms, duration of tones, etc. This new aesthetic principle becomes dominant, it determines the development of musical theory" [131, p. 132]. As a result, the art of music, instead of helping man in his ascent to God, becomes the greatest obstacle on this path and begins to serve only the passions.The ideas of rationalistic humanism spread in Byzantium as well, but, not finding sufficiently favorable soil there, they took root poorly. With the victory of hesychasm, the weak sprouts of the Western Renaissance were suppressed, but not completely eradicated. Byzantine adherents of humanism emigrated to the West, where they found their active supporters. Having suffered defeat in polemics with the hesychasts from Saint Gregory Palamas, Barlaam also went to Italy. There he taught Greek to Petrarch, and was later ordained bishop by the Pope. As we can see, rationalist humanism in the Balkans differed from Western European humanism not so much in essence as in degree.The beginning and development of rationalist humanism in the Balkans is associated with Theodore Metochytes, Nicephorus Humnus, and Georgius Gemistos Pletho. They are very characterized by ambition, love for their creations, adherence to the idea of immortality, acquired by literary fame. For example, Humn wrote in one of his letters: "There is nothing in the world that I would prefer to literary fame" [quoted by: 74, p. 23]. Metochytes is often called "the predecessor of humanism in Byzantium" [74, p. 7]. In the treatise "Ethikos, or On Education", Metochit glorified the beauty of life in science, defining mental work as the highest form of pleasure. He called on scientists "in the name of science (but not in the name of God! — I.P.) renounce worldly cares and family life" [74, p. 23].In this regard, the personality and mentality of Pletho are interesting, who, although he lived after the hesychastic disputes, continued to struggle with hesychasm. In the end, he came to fight Christianity. George Scholarius (later Patriarch Gennadius) noted "that over Pletho even before he was perfected in reason... Hellenic ideas prevailed to such an extent that he cared little for the study of the Christian teachings of his ancestors. Naturally, because of the shortcomings of Divine grace and thanks to the participation of demons, his inclination to constant error increased, as was the case with Julian and other apostates" [74, p. 39]. As a result, he began to study with the Jewish Kabbalist Elisha, who expounded to him the teachings of Zoroaster and the Chaldean oracles. Under his influence, he wrote his main work, in which he showed the pinnacle of his philosophical thought. It was a large anti-Christian treatise "Laws". Around 1460-1465, Patriarch Gennadius Scholarius burned this treatise. He considered it a socially harmful and unnecessary institution, since monks are not engaged in social production, and therefore do not participate in the creation of social wealth. At the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438-1439), where he arrived with the Greeks, he asserted that "in a few years the whole world, as it were, will be possessed by one and the same religion... Both Islam and Christianity will fall, and the true truth will shine to the extreme ends of the earth" [cited by: 74, p. 78]. Thus, "the maximum program of Pletho and his associates was the abolition of Christianity and the establishment of a new religious cult, pagan in its basis," as I. P. Medvedev asserts [74, p. 87]. Pletho's followers multiplied and developed his ideas. With their migration to the West, they organically joined the ranks of the Italian humanists, mixed with them and dissolved in their midst, fully realizing their aspirations. The direction of these aspirations is unambiguous. Tearing man away from God as his Creator, they locked him in time and in themselves, thereby depriving him of personal immortality, destroying the innate need of each person – the God-given desire for eternity. "The Church Revival gave the Greeks, Slavs, and Romanians during five hundred years of slavery to resist the colossal Turkish pressure internally," writes G. M. Prokhorov. Reserves for such a confrontation were found in the Church. "Man did not want to admit the impossibility of communion with God... People wanted not only intellectually, but with all their being, in the flesh, to penetrate into the Kingdom of Heaven. For these people, the "eschatological future" was already a reality, fully anticipated in the Church and therefore in the spiritual experience of Christians. This anticipation meant the sanctification of the material as a sphere of manifestation and as an inevitable component of the personality, the human person, the individuality capable of becoming "God by grace" [91, p. 14]. Thus, in the spiritual experience of Orthodoxy, the opposition of spirit and matter was overcome. The hesychastic controversies prompted the Church to more fully reveal the Orthodox teaching on the deification of man, to give a theological justification for the need to enlighten man with the Holy Spirit.The hesychast movement called on the whole of society to become partakers of the Divine light, and "the abyss between the monastery and the world was overcome. The figure of the anchorite-ascetic turned out to be not peripheral, but central, pivotal in culture. The fugitives from the 'world' took upon themselves the task of telling the world about peace" [122: p. 127].Thus, the hesychasm movement, which gave rise to the Orthodox Renaissance, also gave rise to the famous hesychastic disputes, in which the Eastern worldview clashed with the Western one. The controversy concerned the very essence of Christian anthropology—the deification of man. The understanding of this question by Eastern Orthodoxy, or hesychastic humanists, whose main representative was the disciple of St. Gregory the Sinaite, St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, and by the Western humanists who were nourished by the philosophical Hellenic heritage, headed by Barlaam and Akindynos, were different. This difference marked the beginning of two opposite paths of development of culture, art, etc. Eastern Orthodoxy oriented man to live relying on God's help, to strive for unity with God, to achieve in this world the transformation of the perishable into the incorruptible. In this way, it contributed to the widening of the abyss between God and man.The term "hesychasm" was previously applied only to the theological disputes that took place in Byzantium in the fourteenth century. However, in recent years it has been used more widely in accordance with the influence of hesychasm on various aspects of life: politics, economics, art, etc. [see: 75, pp. 292-295]. In application to Christian ascetics, this term is found from the IV century. Initially, hesychasm was one of the spiritual trends of Eastern contemplative monasticism, which arose at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth centuries in Egypt, Palestine and Asia Minor.The etymology of the word "hesychia" indicates the ascetic ideal of a solitary hermit's life, a form of asceticism that is different from the coenobitic active trend based on the principle of obedience and strict observance of monastic discipline, work and prayer life. The Hesychast devoted himself entirely to mental activity, contemplation and prayerful union with God.The Athonite ascetics of the fourteenth century used the word "hesychia" to refer to their sublime prayerful and contemplative practice associated with mental work, or the Jesus Prayer. But since contemplation is preceded by the initial preparatory stages of ascetic activity, which consist in purification from sinful passions, the concept of "hesychasm" began to be defined as a teaching about the integral path of ascetics, beginning with an active life and ending with a contemplative one. "Hesychia," says V. N. Lossky, "is a properly Christian expression of impassibility, when activity and contemplation are considered not as two different ways of life, but, on the contrary, merge in the realization of mental activity" [quoted by: 122, p. 112].In connection with the unity of the spiritual path, the expression of which was hesychasm, it is necessary to clarify the understanding of the terms "asceticism" and "mysticism" and to clarify their interrelation, since these concepts are often used by researchers of the hesychastic teaching. The hesychastic path of spiritual work is conventionally divided into two periods: 1) active asceticism, purification from passions, and 2) grace-filled contemplation. To the first period, or act, corresponds the concept of "asceticism," and to the second, "mysticism." It should be noted that the word "mysticism" is absent in the language of the Holy Fathers of the Ancient Church. This word began to be used in the Western Christian world at a later time, and if it is used now in Orthodoxy, then it usually corresponds, according to the definition of Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern), "the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, the striving for a charismatic mood" [61, p. 111].The concept of qewria in the epoch under consideration, the fourteenth century, began to be used in a clearly differentiated way: on the one hand, it is the mustikh qewria of the hesychast-Palamists with all the features and signs of Christian mysticism; On the other hand, it is the qewria of humanists as a scientific, theoretical, philosophical cognition of reality. In the latter sense, the word "theory" is used mainly at the present time [74, p. 95; cf. 30, p. 50].According to the teaching of the hesychasts, action (praxiz) always precedes contemplation (qewria) and serves as a preparation for it. Consequently, mysticism is not a special spiritual path, different from asceticism, independent of it. Mysticism is a special state of grace, which is attained on the path of strict asceticism. It is inseparable from asceticism and requires ascetic preparation. Mysticism stems from asceticism and is closely connected with it. The state of contemplation, of mystical illumination, is not directly proportional to ascetic podvig. In this, too, one can see the peculiarity of the Orthodox understanding of both the human will and the will of God. God sends down His grace to man not according to the measure of his merits, but according to the spiritual receptivity of the ascetic. The active path exists only in order to prepare for the reception of grace, for contemplation. It is in grace that the highest perfection and the desired unity with God are contained, which man was deprived of in the Fall.Revive the teaching of the ancient Church Fathers and restore the only true understanding of the relationship between man and God – the creature and the Creator – the hesychasts also gave the only true understanding of the essence of God. In general, it consists of the following:In God, first of all, it is always necessary to distinguish His essence from His manifestation.The energy of the Godhead is uncreated, as is His essence.The distinction between the essence and the manifestation of the Godhead does not introduce complexity into the concept of God.The word "Godhead" is applied not only to the essence of God, but also to His energies.The essence is higher than its manifestation, as the cause is higher than the effect.The essence of God is transcendent to the created world (outside the world), and therefore is inaccessible to knowledge by man, who can know God only in His manifestations – His grace, power, love, wisdom, etc. The practical activity of the hesychasts with such theoretical premises consisted in mental activity, that is, in the fulfillment of the Gospel commandment of unceasing prayer (cf. Luke 18:1; 1 Thess. 5:17). The unceasing Jesus Prayer cleanses a person from every kind of spiritual corruption caused by the Fall, and makes him capable of spiritual transformation and of receiving Divine grace, opening up before him the possibility of ascending to the highest level of perfection and the desired unity with God. Thus, in the center of hesychastic work are the human person and the mystery of his union with God. The deification of the human personality that takes place in this process is the foundation and beginning of the transfiguration of all mankind and the entire universe.The founder of hesychasm is sometimes considered to be St. Symeon the New Theologian, who lived in the eleventh century. As is known, he was the first to clearly expound the doctrine of contemplation of God. But hesychasm was not something new even at that time. This direction of the spiritual experience of Orthodoxy was originally known in the Church, for its beginning dates back to the time of the emergence of Christianity. Hesychasm is nothing other than the teaching about the spiritual life in the Orthodox Church. Following this teaching, an innumerable multitude of ascetics attained holiness and blessed unity with the Lord. The main merit of the hesychasts of the fourteenth century and their teachers is that they reminded us of the forgotten path of knowledge of God and communion with God, expounded it in a harmonious, systematic form, and were able to draw a multitude of followers and supporters onto the God-given paths. p. 90; 54, p. 127], the leader of the ascetics of his epoch [66, p. 68] and the main founder of the great Orthodox Renaissance [45, p. 11]. Such a high assessment of the activities of Gregory the Sinaite is not accidental. Although he was not the only teacher of hesychasm of his time, his role and significance in the hesychastic movement are great. "The Monk Gregory," writes P. A. Syrcu, "was a strong nature, endowed to the highest degree with all the qualities of the soul, in order to become a preacher and disseminator of his idea and to inspire his interlocutor with complete faith in it, for he himself was completely imbued with it" [112: p. 76]. as the creator of the school of hesychastic work sometimes leads to a misunderstanding of the essence of this phenomenon. Proceeding from erroneous assumptions, critics of the Eastern Orthodox methods of spiritual life try to explain the phenomenon of hesychasm and the peculiarities of the teaching of St. Gregory by the existence in Eastern asceticism of different directions of spiritual life based on different principles. In the Catholic Church, there arose a division of monasticism into orders, each of which had its own distinctive principles and methods of spiritual life. There were several canonically approved schools in it, for example, Carmelite, Franciscan, Dominican, Benedictine. The difference in the principles and methods of these schools gives researchers the right to speak of the different directions of the mysticism of the Western and Orthodox Churches. "It can be safely asserted," notes Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern), "that the Eastern tradition of mystics knows and teaches about the purification of the heart, about the struggle with the passions, about prayer exercises, but to group all this into any kind of currents is risky and wrong. There are no such trends. Characteristic signs by which it would be possible to distinguish the "schools" of spiritual life cannot be found" [60, p. 64].Consequently, if we encounter mentions of various Orthodox schools named after their founders, then we must always remember about the unity of the foundations of their spiritual path. Thus, the designation of St. Gregory the Sinaite as the founder does not mean that he invented new principles of spiritual life, but the revival and renewal of that one spiritual path which originally resided in the Church. In the so-called school of St. Gregory the Sinaite, the science of acquiring the grace of the Holy Spirit was taught, the science of educating man for the Kingdom of God. This education was carried out not within the framework of one school, but in the general course of church tradition, in the mainstream of patristic churchliness." There is nothing particularly new in this spirituality, except the intensity of this movement in the fourteenth century and its wide spread... In its essence, it was an ancient contemplative and mystical tradition of Eastern monasticism, already presented in the 4th-5th centuries by Evagrius and Macarius" [45, p. 9], and in the 11th century formulated by St. Symeon the New Theologian.Studying the hesychastic movement, G. M. Prokhorov distinguishes several of its stages: cell development, theoretical expression, and socio-political influence. Each of the stages corresponds to a certain circle and kind of literary works. According to G. M. Prokhorov, the first, cell stage of the movement is associated with ascetic-contemplative literature, which instructs in mental activity — hesychia. The second stage, the time of public theological disputes, gave rise to a large literature in Greek, which focused on the theoretical problem of "uncreated energy," "uncreated light," and the deification of man. The outcome of theoretical disputes in favor of the contemplatives and the victory in the civil war of 1341-1347 of John Kantakouzenos, their supporter, allowed the hesychasts to occupy a dominant position in the Church of Constantinople, and the monastic movement to become church-wide [95: p. 7]. "Beginning in the cells of hermits," writes G. M. Prokhorov, "practicing contemplative 'silence' or 'silence'... this movement later, during the disputes between Palamas and Barlaam, received its own theory, the theory of 'Divine energy', and later becoming dominant in the Byzantine Church, it exerted a cultural, social, and political influence on other Orthodox countries" [91: p. 9]. The name of St. Gregory the Sinaite is directly connected with the first stage of the development and movement of hesychasm, to the consideration of whose life and work we pass.

Chapter 2. St. Gregory the Sinaite and His Influence on the Revival and Spread of Hesychasm

The Initial Monastic Formation of the Monk Gregory

The main source of information about the Monk Gregory the Sinaite is his life, written by the holy Patriarch Kallistos. This life is of particular value for us, since it was compiled by the closest disciple of the Monk Gregory, who "followed in his footsteps everywhere" and "received his spirit" [23, p. 23]. It is a praise to the beloved teacher and a glorification of God, Who is wondrous in His saints.The Life of the Monk Gregory, written by his co-mystery, gives, albeit brief, but the most reliable information about the life of the saint, his labors and feats. In addition, the author cites * The Greek text of the Life of St. Gregory the Sinaite was published by Professor I. V. Pomyalovsky [20]. This manuscript, judging by the postscript in it, was brought to Moscow by Arseny Sukhanov [20, p. II]. The translation of the text was made and provided with a preface and notes by Professor I. Sokolov [23]. The Slavonic edition of the Life was published by P. A. Syrku [24]. A comparative characteristic of the two editions of the Life is given by A. Yatsimirsky [134, pp. 300-331]. There is another Russian translation of the Life, placed in the Athos Patericon, published by the Athos Panteleimon Monastery in 1897 [1]. It is made from a Greek text published by Nicodemus Agiorite (+ 1809) and is a paraphrase of one of the manuscript editions of the complete and original life and the basic principles of the soul-saving teaching of St. Gregory the Sinaite, shows how it was perceived by the numerous disciples of the saint. The first translation of the works of the Sinaite into the Slavic language was made in Bulgaria in the fourteenth century by his disciples. The second known translation was made by St. Paisius Velichkovsky. It was printed by the Moscow Synodal Printing House in 1793 and reprinted in 1822 and 1832. The first Russian translation (translator unknown) is published in the KhCh. (1824, Part XVI) under the title "Very Useful Chapters on Various Spiritual Subjects." The second Russian translation, published in the second half of the nineteenth century by the Athos Monastery of Panteleimon in the Philokalia, was made by St. Theophan the Recluse. The third translation was made by Hieromonk Veniamin (Milov) in 1920 at the Moscow Theological Academy.The homeland of St. Gregory the Sinaite was the village of Kukul, located in Asia Minor, not far from the city of Klazomen. At present, the village of Kelisman is located on the site of this Byzantine city. Kukul is probably the present village of Vurdakh, located to the south-west of Kelisman [114, p. 63]. Saint Gregory was born at the end of the 60s of the thirteenth century, approximately in the year 1268 or 1269*. His parents were rich and respected Byzantines. In addition to Gregory, they had several more sons. They gave their children a good education and brought them up in the spirit of piety. As the biographer says, the Monk Gregory was especially diligent in teaching and upbringing, and in general he lived "only a favorable and salvific life" [23, p. 35].When the Monk Gregory was 20 years old, his homeland was attacked by the Turks under the leadership of Sultan Osman I (1288-1326). This happened approximately in 1290, during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II the Elder of the Palaiologos dynasty, who reigned in 1282-1328 [68, p. 72]. Having devastated Asia Minor, the Turks returned with a multitude of captive Christians, among whom was the Monk Gregory with his parents and brothers. The captives were taken to a Turkish military camp located in the Thracian province near the city of Laodicea. But God did not abandon His faithful servants. When the Ottoman Turks softened a little towards the captives, they allowed them to visit the Laodicean temple and take part in divine services. A group of captives, among whom was Saint Gregory, by their skilful performance of church hymns touched the Laodiceans who were in the church. Moved by the beautiful singing, they made efforts to redeem the captives from slavery. Having received his freedom, Gregory went to Cyprus, where everyone liked him with his good disposition and beautiful appearance, which harmonized with him. The inhabitants of the island even believed that with the arrival of Gregory, God's Providence had spread over the island its loving solicitude.The Monk Gregory had even earlier revealed an inclination towards a God-pleasing life, but now he nourished in his heart a great love and striving for virtue. He wanted to lay the foundation for an ascetic life under the guidance of an experienced mentor. And the Lord sent him a certain monk in Cyprus, who had chosen a silent hermit's life. The monk clothed Gregory in the rassophore and set forth the first fundamental rules of an active monastic life. For some time the Monk Gregory lived under the guidance of this wilderness-dweller. He accepted his ascetic instructions to such an extent that he became spiritually related to him. But in time, desiring more severe asceticism, Saint Gregory set off, perhaps at the direction of the wilderness-dweller, to Mount Sinai.Here, in the monastery of the holy Great-Martyr Catherine, erected on a sloping slope of the mountain by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in the year 527, the Monk Gregory took the minor schema, that is, he became a monk of the lesser image, or mantle. He tirelessly and with all possible diligence fulfilled his first obedience as a cook and baker for three years. Serving the brethren, he believed that he was serving the order of angels. At the same time, the Monk Gregory always thought that God was looking down upon him from on high, and he considered the place of his ministry to be the throne and altar of God. At this time the monk was about thirty years old.The period of the Monk Gregory's stay at the Sinai monastery should be considered in more detail. It was not by chance that he chose the monastery of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine for his initial monastic feats. The fact is that since its foundation for many centuries, this monastery has been one of the largest centers of Byzantine-Eastern monasticism. And during the time of St. Gregory, the Sinai Monastery did not lose its significance. It was still one of the most famous centers of Christian enlightenment and spiritual life. A well-organized monastic life proceeded according to a strict rule, which included the daily revelation of thoughts to the elder-confessor [104, p. 417]. This correctly tuned the ascetics and contributed to their rapid spiritual growth. For this reason many Byzantine ascetics, striving for silence, withdrew precisely to Sinai and there began their life in the rank of novice monks.For about five years the Monk Gregory passed through a severe monastic school in the monastery of St. Catherine. All his attention was directed to learning inner work and pleasing God, to prepare for the subsequent contemplative life. The preparation consisted of strengthening the skill of cutting off one's will, strict fasting, tireless night vigilance and unceasing prayer. The daily food of the ascetic was a very small amount of bread and water. Every evening he came to the abbot and brought daily repentance, confessing his sinful thoughts with contrition of spirit. Having received a blessing from the elder, the Monk Gregory went to his cell, where he lifted up his mind to God, performing psalmody. Often throughout the night he knelt and did not abandon prayer until he had read the entire Psalter. In the morning, at the first blow of the beat, he was the first to enter the church, and after the morning praise to God, he was the last to leave it. In the intervals between work in the kitchen and bakery, the Monk Gregory diligently read and studied the Old and New Testaments, meditating on what he had read. In this he succeeded in such a way that soon he began to surpass everyone in the monastery in his knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. As a skilled calligrapher, he copied sacred texts. This occupation was considered a great good deed and was very honorable. Meanwhile, it also brought great spiritual benefit to the Monk Gregory himself. It can be assumed that it was at this time that his writing activity began.The Monk Gregory never omitted the established fraternal rule. In addition, he ascended almost daily to the very top of Sinai to worship God at the place where great signs were performed. He performed innumerable genuflections on the sacred place and remembered the God-seer Moses, who once conversed with God here. Saint Gregory in a short time attained great spiritual heights. His feats amazed and amazed the monks. He brought obedience and meekness to the highest degree of perfection. Seeing the abundance of his virtues, certain monks began to ask the Monk Gregory to become a disciple. For his ascetic life on Sinai, the follower of Christ received the name of Sinaite. But the enemy of the human race, the devil, soon aroused in some of the monks of Sinai a strong envy of him. Learning of this, the meek and peace-loving Gregory did not wish that confusion and disorder should occur because of him, and he left the Sinai monastery.In the last decade of the thirteenth century, Saint Gregory, accompanied by his devoted disciple, the monk Gerasimus, left the monastery. He went to Jerusalem to venerate the Holy Sepulchre of the Lord. Having venerated the holy relics of Palestine, the Monk Gregory and his disciple arrived at the southern harbor of the island of Crete, called the Good Harbors. He did not intend to linger there, but since because of a storm the ship could not sail soon, Saint Gregory began to select a place, free from worldly noise and vanity, for solitary prayer. After a long search, he found an uninhabited cave. As P. A. Syrkou suggests, it was located in the labyrinth of Minos [112, p. 64]. Here Saint Gregory and his disciple devoted themselves to the most austere ascetic feats.Fully trusting in the future eternal life, the Monk Gregory began to exert efforts and labors in the struggle with himself, with his sinful inclinations. His work and prayer were combined with strict abstinence. He ate only once a day and as much as was necessary only to sustain life—a small piece of bread and a little water. This measure had been taken by him as a rule even earlier. In all his labors and feats, the Monk Gregory of Sinai was never guided by his own will. He always "tried to find a guide in what he did not have time to read and learn in the books of the Divine Scriptures, or what he had not been spiritually taught by any of the Spirit-bearing and divine fathers and teachers" [23, p. 39]. The Monk Gregory lived in the hope that, having learned, with God's help, to work, that is, the initial podvig, he would by God's mercy be taught also podvig, which leads to the highest steps of asceticism, that is, contemplation, or silence, and active prayer. For this he did not cease to offer up fervent prayers to the Lord. And his prayers were heard. In a special revelation the Lord commanded a certain Arsenius, a man of great spiritual experience, adorned with work and contemplation, to teach the Monk Gregory the Sinaite the rules of a silent life. The Elder, who had been wise with many years of spiritual and ascetic experience, told him about the preservation of the mind, true sobriety and pure prayer, about how through the fulfillment of Christ's commandments "the mind is purified, and from this a person who has so God-lovingly pondered and exercised, illumined by light, becomes completely luminous" [23, p. 30]. Blessed Arsenius served as an instrument of the Holy Spirit and, knowing perfectly well the path that leads to the heights of virtue, without concealing anything, he told the Monk Gregory about this in detail and consistently, and "teach, leave nothing behind, but from grace" [22, p. 458]. Having passed on all his knowledge about active asceticism and mental prayer, he warned St. Gregory. and from the satanic schemes directed against the workers of the Jesus Prayer. Arsenius also pointed out that it was also possible for evil people to attack him, instigated by the devil.Having accepted the teaching of the elder Arsenius and having assimilated mental prayer, the Monk Gregory wished to find · monks engaged in the ascent to contemplation. For this purpose, apparently with the blessing of the elder, he and his disciple Gerasim set off to the Holy Mount Athos, which was at that time one of the main centers of monasticism. He believed that "no one should be left without attention, everyone should be seen for the sake of prayer and blessing and spiritual worship should be given to them" [23, p. 31]. During his visit to the Athonite monks, Saint Gregory met with a multitude of ascetics, often venerable in age, distinguished by their intelligence and remarkable spiritual qualities. But, to his great chagrin, all of them underwent only an exceptionally active asceticism, that is, they made every effort to work. When the monk asked them about silence, or the guarding of the mind and contemplation, the elders replied that they had not even heard of it. And only in the skete of Magula, located near the monastery of Saint Philotheus, did the Monk Gregory find three monks, who exercised not only in outward work, but also in a little contemplation. Having found like-minded spiritual people, he began to visit them. St. Gregory liked the skete of Magula for its strictly ascetic way of life. Soon not far from the skete, he and his disciple built themselves cells, or hesychastiria, for silence. The monk settled in a hard-to-reach place, in order to freely devote himself to contemplation, following the instructions of the elder Arsenius.

Ascent to the highest form of monastic activity — contemplation

Having established himself in the original form of monastic life – work, the Monk Gregory of Sinai approached the higher – contemplation.The first form consisted in withdrawing from worldly life and in purifying oneself from carnal passions by means of fasting, prayerful vigil, kneeling and many other bodily labors. This was the ascetic life of the Monk Gregory the Sinaite until he met the Cretan hermit Arsenius, who outlined for him the path of ascent to God. Implementing in his life the instructions of the elder Arsenius, the Monk Gregory developed his own view of the path to contemplation. "In him," says his biographer, the holy Patriarch Kallistos, "through his deeds the situation was realized: work is the ascent to contemplation" [23, p. 33].The teaching of St. Gregory the Sinaite is set forth in a number of his works, and is also contained in the writings of his closest disciples. The basic principles of this teaching can also be found in the life of the monk. Saint Gregory began his mental work with the fact that, remembering the instructions of Arsenius, he gathered within himself all the senses and concentrated his mind in his soul. In the Slavonic translation of the life on this occasion it is said as follows: "Gather a good thought in the spirit, and, having gathered together and bound, give away the nailing of the cross of Christ" [22, p. 459], with deep groaning and tears of a contrite heart in a spirit of tenderness he repeated the same prayer in solitude: "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" [23, p. 32]. Soon, through one amazing sign, the Lord showed how pleasing to Him was such prayerful labor. One day He poured out His grace upon Saint Gregory so abundantly, that the entire hesychastiry was filled with an indescribable grace-filled light, and the whole being of the worker of silence trembled with an abundance of joy. By asceticizing in this way, the divine Gregory attained the highest levels of communion with God. Whenever he came out of his silence to talk or pray together with the desert dwellers, inexpressible bliss and joy were involuntarily reflected on his face. This state could not be hidden from the eyes of the monks. Those who wished to undergo monastic feats under his guidance began to gather to the monk. He attracted them "also by the divine breadth and loftiness of his teaching talent" [23, p. 40]. The Monk Gregory did not limit the number of his disciples and gave to all who came "a share in the spiritual benefit" [23, p. 53], he brought up everyone and took care of the correction of each with great love and affection. The instructions that he gave to his disciples mainly speak of "concerns about the salvation of the soul, about the abstinence of those who go to salvation in one way or another, about patience and humility, and about the fact that hopes should always be placed in God, from Whom people have every correction, that they should not neglect the rule, but at all times have unceasing concern for death" [23, p. 51]. Under the guidance of an attentive teacher of mental activity, many monks ascended to the high degrees of contemplative life.The spiritual wisdom and great grace-filled gifts of St. Gregory the Sinaite could not remain known only to a small circle of his closest disciples. Gradually, Athonite monasticism became interested in his ascetic deeds and the teaching of silence. Almost all the Athonite monks conversed with the great teacher of silence. His speech, addressed to visitors, breathed a special Divine power. The power of God's grace, received by him, was transmitted to those who heard. He encouraged not only the hermits, but also the monks of coenobitic monasteries to pay attention to sobriety and hesychia.Thanks to the conversations, the principles of inner work and silence soon became known to all Athos. However, not everyone on Athos favorably accepted the preaching of the Monk Gregory. Scientists in the "external sciences" were especially displeased with his teachings [124, pp. 226-269]. They began to call Saint Gregory a new teacher who had come from somewhere [23, p. 55]. Some rose up against him out of envy, intending to expel the monk from the Holy Mountain. The envious complained to Archpriest Luke of Athos that Gregory taught without a blessing and taught "what they do not know." On the Holy Mountain, the prot was the supreme bearer of the spiritual and teaching power that had belonged to the protams since the time of Emperor Alexius Comnenus, given in the charter of 1095 [23, p. 96]. In order to put an end to indignation and ill-will, Saint Gregory with his disciple Isaiah appeared at the Protatus, where he expounded and explained his teaching. Having learned about the extraordinary virtues of the Monk Gregory, the archpriest showed him the greatest reverence, and "the truth clearly shone" [23, p. 32]. After this, the glory of the Monk Gregory on Athos increased still more. Crowds eager to hear the saint literally besieged him every day. This interfered with contemplation. And the Monk Gregory, "valuing anchoritism above all else," began to move from place to place, hiding from innumerable visitors [23, p. 58].Soon, however, Saint Gregory had to leave Athos because of the attack of the Turks. Probably, he did not want to stay on the Holy Mountain at that time because, on the one hand, he had experienced much suffering from the Turks since childhood, and on the other hand, he did not want to lose his priceless silence [112, p. 104]. In addition, the turmoil caused by his envious and ill-wishers did not subside. He decided to go to Sinai and remain silent on the top of the mountain. But having learned that the impious Saracens were rampaging there too, he abandoned this plan. Approximately in 1325, he arrived with his disciples in Thessalonica, where he lived for about two months [136, p. 44]. Leaving all but two of his companions there, he headed for the island of Chios, located in the Aegean Sea southeast of Mount Athos, and on to the island of Militina (or). The next place which the Monk Gregory visited in search of solitude was Mount Lebanon in Syria, but envious people did not allow him to settle there either. The monk was forced to leave and set off for Constantinople.A harsh winter detained him in the noisy capital of Byzantium for six months. Emperor Andronikos Palaiologos the Elder (1282-1328), having learned that the great saint was in the city, often invited him to his home and many times offered him a high ecclesiastical rank and position, but always met with a categorical refusal on the part of the Monk Gregory. The saint of God shunned the glory of man.The Monk Gregory and his disciples left Constantinople on a ship. They sailed along the Black Sea along the coast of Thrace, but a storm forced them to stop at Sozopol, located on the western coast. There they learned that in the northern part of Thrace there was a place very convenient for the hermit's life. It was located near the very border between Byzantium and Bulgaria, therefore it was called Paroria. The inner, most desolate part of Paroria was called Mesomiliion. In this place the monk Amirali asceticized. Having examined the area, Sinaite found it convenient for hesychia, since it was deserted and there were no convenient ways to get to it. Here the ascetics built cells. Judging by the hagiography, they arrived in Paroria in the last years of the reign of Andronicus the Elder, that is, before 1328 [112, p. 105]. But even here Saint Gregory did not succeed in receiving the long-awaited peace. Amirali, according to the author of the life, turned out to be an empty and vain man. He saw in the Monk Gregory a zealous ascetic and began to envy him. He demanded that Saint Gregory depart, threatening to send robbers against him.The Monk Gregory with his disciples crossed over to the neighboring mountain of Katakekriomeni. There, to the east of Skopo, in a hidden desert, his first monastery was located. But Amirali did not stop there. He began to persuade the disciples of the Monk Gregory to come over to him. A certain monk Luke succumbed to Amiral's suggestions. Soon, possessed by a passion of envy for his former teacher, he rushed with a sword at the Monk Gregory and almost killed him. St. Gregory not only did not show any complaint, but, on the contrary, repaid him with love and attention: for the spiritual benefit of Luke, he wrote sober words (chapters) [23, p. 62]. The monk, struck by such a loving attitude towards himself, repented of the sin he had committed and became one of the diligent disciples, and later an experienced monk.After some time, Amirali sent several robbers against the Monk Gregory the Sinaite, so that they would force the saint to depart. The robbers bound the Monk Gregory, put him in chains and began to demand from him and from his disciples gold and silver. But, having searched the cells and not finding anything to eat, they left them and departed [23, p. 63]. After these events, Saint Gregory left Paroria.Through Sozopol he returned with his disciples to Constantinople, where he settled near the church of Saint Sophia. About a year later he again went to Mount Athos, to the Lavra of St. Athanasius. Near it, in complete solitude, the Monk Gregory began to continue his silent asceticism. A new invasion of the Turks prompted the Monk Gregory to seek refuge within the walls of the Lavra. However, here he was burdened by his sojourn among the numerous brethren and did not cease to think about returning to Paroria.At the first favorable opportunity, taking with him his beloved disciple Kallistos, the Monk Gregory secretly left the Lavra of Saint Athanasius and set off through Adrianople to Paroria on the Icy Mountain. The second settlement of Gregory the Sinaite in Paroria dates back to 1331 [115, p. 162]. Soon a multitude of students of different nationalities gathered around him: Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs. There were so many disciples in the Paroria hermitage that four lavras were formed. The main one was built on a place called Pozova, in the Mesomilskaya Cave [112, p. 108; 65, p. 118].The numerous brotherhood of these monasteries led a severe ascetic life according to the skete rule given by the great founder and mentor. Here, according to the custom and tradition of the fathers, St. Gregory "prepared for the hermit's life some of the monks who loved silence, like the great Moses and Elijah the Tishbite" [23, p. 66]. In spite of the fact that the brotherhood of the Monk Gregory the Sinaite increased and Paroria gradually became a great center of spirituality and enlightenment, it did not cease to be disturbed by the raids of robbers. The Monk Gregory decided to turn for help to the Bulgarian emperor John Alexander (1331-1371). He sent to him disciples from the Bulgarians, who told the emperor about the Paroria monasteries, about their situation and needs, and conveyed the request of the monk to provide protection to the monastics. John Alexander, as a right-believing emperor, understood that the well-being of his reign and the prosperity of the state depended on the blessing of God through the prayers of the saints, and very generously, in a truly royal way, he bestowed upon the Monk Gregory the Sinaite and his disciples. At his own expense he built churches and good cells in the monasteries, gave them possession of the surrounding lands and provided them with everything necessary for it to become a major monastic center. In particular, to protect the monasteries from robbers, the tsar ordered the construction of a pyrg (tower). This tower, which gave the main monastery the appearance of a fortress, later became known as the pyrg of Sinaite [112, p. 154].As a result of such benefactions, the monasteries of St. Gregory the Sinaite became stronger economically, and the monks could safely perform feats of salvation. Soon the news that the Paroria hermitage was prospering spread throughout all Orthodox countries. Both the former disciples of the Monk Gregory and those who wanted to learn from him spiritual work rushed to Paroria. Among this host of disciples, the God-bearing elder spent his last days. Filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, he had the gift of clairvoyance, and the day of his death was revealed to him. Three days before his death, the monk took with him one of his closest disciples, and withdrew to a hermit's cell, built near the Paroria monastery. There, for three days, in prayerful standing before God, he withstood a strong attack by demons and emerged victorious from this struggle. After this, the Monk Gregory of Sinai conversed with his disciple and revealed to him about his impending journey to Heavenly Jerusalem, and then quietly died. The saint's death occurred on November 27, as indicated in the life of the Monk Theodosius of Tarnovo [7, p. XI], in the year 1346 [2, p. 19]. The Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. Gregory the Sinaite four times a year. According to the calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church, his memory is celebrated on August 8, in the Menaion of Metropolitan Macarius of the sixteenth century it is indicated as February 11, in the Greek Synaxarion of Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain – on April 6, and according to other Greek synaxarion – on November 27 [105, p. 239]. The real reason that prompted St. Gregory to move from place to place, in the words of Patriarch Kallistos, was that the monk "always had the desired deed to circumnavigate the entire universe in an apostolic way" [23, p. 68] and to enrich it with the knowledge of ascending to the heights of contemplation through active virtue. He fervently desired that by the grace of God all like him ascend to the Divine height. "At any time and in every place, under all circumstances of life and position, it was always a matter of the greatest concern for him to encourage everyone in general with zeal and to raise them to beautiful deeds... to try to bind everyone together in a union of love for each other and to inspire harmony in oneness of mind and unanimity towards the God-pleasing, beautiful and salvific things" [23, p. 72]. He was "a lamp and the greatest herald and teacher of the word of truth, preaching as if from the very central elevation", all this he "accomplished as a tireless apostle" [23, p. 61]. In the places of his travels, the Monk Gregory actively spread the ideas of a contemplative life and unceasing prayer. It was a kind of missionary sermon. Later, his teaching about the principles of a strict ascetic life spread not only in Byzantium, Bulgaria, Serbia, but also in other countries. In Bulgaria, one might say, he laid the foundation for a whole theological school [111, p. 61], making the Paroria hermitage "a spiritual workshop, as if melting and recreating for the better those who came to him there" [23, p. 70].The Monk Gregory of Sinaite not only tirelessly carried the teaching of the Jesus Prayer and sacred sobriety to those seeking salvation, but also encouraged other ascetics to preach about this God-pleasing work. For example, he persuaded the great ascetic and contemplative Maximus Kavsokalivsky not to conceal his work from the Athonite monks, but "to bring benefit and edification." "Do not hide your talent," said the Monk Gregory, "not for you, in fact, it was given to you by God, but in order that you might pass it on to others" [24, p. XVII]. The Monk Maximus listened to the advice of the great elder and "in a narrow, steep and stony appanage" he founded a skete, which became known as Kapsokaliv. For a long time, this skete became a place of refuge and a school of lofty asceticism for all those who wished to live a prayerful and silent life.Patriarch Kallistos compares St. Gregory the Sinaite with St. Anthony the Great, the teacher and lawgiver of all monastic life. He says that his mentor "inhabited the wilderness, loved the hermit's life with all his heart, received the gospel from God and observed the Divine law in the most beautiful way to the end, and, having become a guide and teacher, in a multitude, and not in a certain number, led those who are being saved to God" [23, p. 69]. "And he, to tell me briefly about everything," says St. Kallistos, "was a musical instrument, on which, according to the words of the Father of God David, the Divine Spirit clanked" [23, p. 71].During his lifetime, the Monk Gregory was known mainly as a famous teacher of inner work. In all places, and especially on Mount Athos, from where, in fact, his fame begins, he becomes a preacher of the contemplative life. In the Life of the Monk Maximus it is said about Gregory the Sinaite, that he "was very desirable for all the fathers of the Mountain, especially for those who lived in silence, because, having spent his whole life in silence and constantly engaged in mental prayer, he knew very well the snares and secret pretexts of demons, which constitutes a special dignity and an invaluable gift of a truly ascetic life. For this reason the silent borrowed the mysteries of mental prayer, studying from his conversations and reasonings the signs of the actions of grace and the hidden intrigues and subtle nets of demonic deception" [1, 7th ed., part 1, p. 41].The instructions of St. Gregory the Sinaite, set forth in his works, are to this day an effective guide for all those seeking salvation. "In the best and most perfect way, he introduces the mysteries of the art of mental and inner prayer, shows the passions and pure, moral virtues, and proclaims which signs of grace and which are charms. In general, these works of the Sinaite, like no other work, are very useful to beginners, and intermediate, and perfect ascetics. And what is the spiritual wealth hidden in them, and how great it is, will be known by those who read them attentively" [2, p. 97; cf. 5, p. 129]. It is reliably known that he wrote two canons. One canon is dedicated to the holy cross — "To the Almighty Cross, praise to the apostles." It is found in the text of the service for the day of Friday and in the Canon. Another canon, to the Holy Fathers, is placed in the Slavonic Canon, printed in Venice in 1547 [125, p. 336; 97, p. 209]. With the acrostic "The Song of Receive the Unworthy Sinaite", the second canon is also known from the Psalter of Metropolitan Cyprian, and under the title "The Canon of the Whole Summer to the Saints" from a seventeenth-century manuscript kept in the National Library in Belgrade. St. Gregory also composed the refrains at the end of the canon to the Most Holy Trinity at the Sunday Midnight Office. According to the research of Archbishop Philaret (Gumilevsky), the work of St. Gregory the Sinaite is also the "Touching Canon to Our Lord Jesus Christ" [125, p. 336].In the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos there is a collection of church hymns, compiled on the Holy Mountain in the second half of the fourteenth century. It also contains hymns written by St. Gregory the Sinaite [40, p. 131].St. Gregory is credited with composing a service to St. Paraskeva of Epivata. In one of the Menaion of 1420, a note is given to the service to St. Paraskeva that it is "the creation of Gregory the Sinaite" [97, pp. 209, 213]. In the Paroria monastery founded by St. Gregory there was a church dedicated to St. Paraskeva, and it can be assumed that this prompted the monk to write a service to her [40, p. 131].

The Teaching of St. Gregory the Sinaite