Gregory of Athos

Saint Gregory the Athonite, also called Gregory Drimys or Gregory of Byzantium, was a monk and hesychast ascetic on Mount Athos, the teacher of Saint Gregory Palamas, who fell asleep in 1308. He is commemorated on 6 April as a venerated saint, with no known date of canonization.

He came from Constantinople and, according to Philotheos Kokkinos, the biographer of Gregory Palamas, was called "Gregory the Great". Forsaking the world and all its delights, he resolved to give his life to Christ, imitating the angels as a monk on the Holy Mountain. He settled in the mountains around Great Lavra, at the Skete of Glossia, dedicated to the Holy Apostles, where he gave himself to harsh asceticism and unceasing noetic prayer, becoming an initiate of the sacred mysteries. He reached such a height of virtue that, it is said, God made him worthy to receive food from an angel.

His fame spread through Mount Athos and beyond. Many came to him to learn the way to perfection. Among the disciples gathered at Glossia was Saint Gregory Palamas, who learned from him for two years the mysteries of hesychasm and noetic prayer. The skete, outside the walls of the Lavra, was disturbed by attacks of Muslims, so Gregory Drimys returned to Constantinople, where he wished to repose, while Gregory Palamas went to Thessaloniki at the age of twenty-⁠nine. Philotheos Kokkinos tells that after his death his relics became a source of miracles. He fell asleep in 1308. He is also remembered, with the other Athonite fathers, on the second Sunday of Matthew.