WORKS OF GREGORY SINA·I·TE

DAVID BALFOUR

Structure titles the works, with out-

line their contents.
Saint Gregory of Sinai's pub]ished works, i.e. those inc]uded by
Nikodemos Hagioreites and Makarios Notaras, former Bishop of Cor-
inth, their and from there repub]ished and trans-
]ated, corisist of five series of «chapters» capita), which are
usuaJJy quoted. under the foJJowing Greek headings or - by those who
stiJJ folJow .the incongruous habit of quoting the works of the Greek
Fathers by Latin tit]e/5 - under their Latin equiva]ents adopted
Migne's 150:
1) The 137 (Most beneficia] chapters)
orCapita;
2) the 7 (Other chapters) or Capita a]ia;
. 3) the 1 chapters hesychia and
.. prayer) or De quiete et oratione;
4) The 15 chapters
hesychia and the two manners of prayer)' or De quietudine et duo-
. bus orationis modis;

112. (Anthology the ascetic Fathers). First

published Venice 1782 a.nd Church Slavonic translation, somewhat abridged,
Moscow 1793. Second Greck edition, Athens 1893; third, Athens 1957-1963,
with the addition a valuable index; fourth, Athens 1974-1976, being a photo-
static reproductionof the third. OriginalIy four volumes, but since 1963;
Gregor)"s works have been the fourth. Texts 150 copied from the
Venice editio!l .
. For the manuscript tradition lying at the base a) the Qreek
see a c h a s, Dobrotoljubie,
208-213, and b) the Slavonic version (Dobrotoljubie) , see the
text and bibJiograpl:y that author's study Mount Athos
ibid. (1977). went through seven from 1822 1902, followed from
1877 onwards by editions of a Russian version by Theophan the Recluse, a retired
bishop.
eEOAorIA, Nr', 2. 27
 418 David Balfour

5) The 7 or 8 chapters how to

sit) or Quomodo oporteat sedere.
The purpose of thls section lS toanalyse the above titles and
the sub-titles which accompany most of them, and to examlne the struc-
ture of the works which they serve to lntroduce; to show that thty are
of them rea:By a1Jthorltatlve and most of them unsatisfactory;
and to propose an. alternative way of to the works. The
doctrlne embodied wiB be studied a further

1) The titJe «M{)st beneficial chapters», which heads thefirst

and set of can clearly not be attributedto St Greg-
ory himse1f. The (in Slavonic, zelo
lS a piece of self-praise lnwhich he would not have lndulged; this ls
the ofglqss written into the and titles of
by scribes thelr owninitiativ€. The single
word «Chapters»woiJld be perfectly Ilpproptiate asa tItle, probably
attributable to the author himself. But. it appJies equally the.re-
malnlng four works;and as of fact the fuH tItle, tisuaHy
. quoted, (Most bene{lcial chap-
ters acrosti6); 80. should call thes.e «The chap-
ters» ).1'11e iil·itial letterS:/ 01' the first word
of each an acrostlc of sub-
title: .

"(Varlous
dogmas, threats a·nd besidesalso he-
sychia and prayer: which this lsthe acrostIc). the Greek that adds
up to 136 letteIg, yet ls because the word
ls mis-c;pelt adds. one more letter. The
acrostic lS a tough guide matter: e.g.) the seven chap.,

113. The device doctrine ihrough a series briel kepha-

each more or )es8 [ndependent its neighbours, goes back at least the 4th
century (Evagrios and was much used by the ascetic Fathers. Outstand-
ing examples were St J ohn the Ladder and St Maximos the Confessor, both
whom have influenced St Gregory.
St Theodosios Trnovo, Gregory's Bulgariandisciple, translated his
master's chapters Old Church SIavonic. what extent his version may have
influenced the Moscow edition 1"793 merits investigation.
 The ",'orks of Gregory the 419

ters corresponding to the word (threats) deal with punish-

ment for sin, while those whose initials compose the phrase
(concerning hes.ychia and prayer) come neares t to
describing the contemplative life as such.
These 137 «most beneficial chapters») are a series of statements
various spiritual topics, framed the traditional manner. Their
sole heading is a number, and they consist of anything from 15 to 500
words each, with an average of near]y 100. As the sub-title
shows, the subjects dealt with are many and various and the whole
of theological anJ ascetic rather than of mystical nature.

2) The 7 ((Other chapters» a.re a kind of sup-

plement the preceding 137. The first three concern assimilation
Christ; then come th,ree under the sub-titles «Concerning passionate
change» «good
and «temptations during sleep»
the seventh enumerates seven ways of «receiving alms;).
The title Olher is unexceptionable, though hardly like-
ly be derived from tbe authorhimself. The, same may be said of
the subtitles. But why oi1ly three, when there are seven chapters; and
are those three adequately supported by evidence and
just the scholia of copyist?

3) The 1Okephalaia introduced by the heading:

and continuing

(Precise
hesychia :and p.ayer; and besides also the signs of grace
and of delusion,' and what difference tbere is in the warmth and in
the action;l14 and'that without a guide,1l5 error easily creeps Now

114. «action)) St Gregory means the effect of spiri tuaJ influences,

good or eviI, th3 soul of the contemplative, Various kinds of «warmth».
and of «action» are described 7 to 10 of this set of chapters,as
of mysticaI experience.
115. Actu;<I1y, tl1ere is mention at 'aIl of a guide throughout lhe prinled texl
of lhese 10 chaplers, This goes confirm how undesirable is lhal such headings
should be quoted as official litles of works, as lhough attribulable lhe aulhor
himself. They are often jusl the superficial jollings of ralher irresponsible scribes,
420 David BaIfour

this is a summary of contents - and a bad one, at that -

rather than a proper title. It would not help much to call this set
of the or «The Treatise»,llG adding perhaps
For the opening lines make it clear that this
is a e t t e r addressed a certain Longinos. ll7 It might fact be apt
to call it «The ten chapters to Longinos»
With this work we enter the sphere of mystical theology proper:
is a treasise hesychia, the practice of the J esus-Prayer, or «psy-
cho-technical and continual of theLoid Jesus».1l8

4) The collection, often quoted, of 15 the Hesy-

chast method of prayer, which has been repeatedly printed since
1782 under the heading
(Concerning the life andabout the two ways of
praying). Actually, as is confirmed by the of 1793,
the first two words if any, can be taken as
title, because the latter part of the description fits the first chap-
ter it is its heading, just as most of the remaining chapters each
their own particular heading. As the' case, the reader
is being tricked into quoting a sub-title as though all the 15
of the set. And once again, we are helped out by the fact that

116. For one thing, the sam'e word (=know\edge; inCormation, notice)
is used most manuscripts to describe the next group chapters too. This one is
an the other is an
117. «Longinos» was the traditiona\ name the Roman centurion command
at the Crucifixion (Matth. 27,54). He \ater became, according to tradition, a Chris-
tian and was martyred Cappadocia. feast is October 16. His name was
sometimes given to monks. The addressee this case is a]most certainJy identicaJ
with one Gregory's discipJes called Longinos who briefly Ch. 17
KaJlistos' Li/e Gregory, . thongh why he called here ((wonder-
worker» Byzantine ascetic par\ance) one can guess. Abba
was a famous mirac\e-worker the 4th/5th century A\exandria. Is
_Gregory indu\ging pious p\easantry? Is he serious? Or is this some seribe's

11.8. The Cull formula

is: (Lord J esus Christ,
Son God, have mercy me a sinner). various forms this «Jesus Prayer», though
by means established everywhere, is uninterrupted\y witnessed Byzantine
Ilterature from the 6th century onwards.
 The works of Gregory the 421

this group of chapters is realJy a didactic epistle. Who exactly was

the addressee quite clear, since there are various versions; but
that which names a certain Niphon seems the most reliable, since the
others are garbled a greater or lesser may therefore adopt
provisionally, pending the production of a critical text based aJl
available manuscripts. It runs as foJlows: «Letter and brief notice con-
cerning hesychia, 16 chapters, most necessary, from the well-known
monk Gregory the the most devout vigil-keeper Father
phon, he having been urged by the latter virtue of his name».119 This
immediately followed by a proem or «preamble», which has
remained unedited; it gives the numberof the kephalaia as 16, not 15,
presumably because this proem the first of them. The text
given below based the following five manuscripts, all of them of
the late 14th or e'lrly 15th century,120 except the last
119. As Niphon is caIled he wiIl doubt be a HesychasL renowned
for h.is night vigils. There is also a slight play words here. its .derivaLion,
Gregory's name is cognate with «vigilance». The recipienL has therefore used as
a basis for his request LhaL the should write him something prayer and
guarding of the hea:,t. This Niphon may possibly be the man who became Abbot
of a monastery of Athos and later ts Accused of Messalianism for
supplying the needs of Bogomile beggars, he was supported by KaIlistos, Philo-
theos, Palamas and Can tacuzene and 'vindicated by a series of ecclesiastical tri-
bunals, ending 1351 (Gregoras, Hist. 25 [PG 149, 226]; Cantacuzene,
Hist. IV, 2 ed. 108-114]).
120. C e, his Bodl'eian' Library catalogue of Greek manuscripLs
(Oxford 1853), attribuled Baroc. gr. 213 the 16Lh cenLury. But Lhe Holkham
ms. said be an exact c of G. L. MarrioLt's ediLion 7) of
carii Artecdota Theological Studies 1918), which is based is attrib-
uLed by Seymour de Ricci his Holkham HaIl HandlisL (Oxford 1932, 55)
the 14th and by Ruth Barbour the 15th (see her 8ummary the Gree/(
mss. Irom Library Holkham Bodleiart Library Record 5 [1960]).
This is confirmed by the many watermarks showing a pair of scales of the type
Iisted by C. r q u e t (Les Amslerdam 21968) under nos 2394-
2413, - a mark found beLween the years 1375 and 1434. lndeed,
itself can be assigned the 14th or early 15th century view of
an walermark its ff. 222 230: Briquet's group 7345-7379 (fruiL with two
leaves and three long sLalks joined a ring) running from a.d. 1336 1427. The
contents of and are entirely idenHcal, bul which copied which is reaIly
clear. Baroc. gr. catalogued as of the 15th century, would be better described as
of the 14th or early 15th, since its watermarks are probably referable to Bri-
quet's nos 3840-3843 and 3847 clefs croisees»), marks use from
1358 1429.
121. wish thank Lhe staff of the Patriarchal lnstitute for Patristic
. Salonica [01' help over decyphering their microfilm Qf
422 David Balfour

= Cod. viron (Athos 4626) § 21, f.204 v (last 8 lines).

= Codd. Bodleian. Baroc. gr. 81, and 213, f. 320 v
= Cod. Bodleian. Holkham gr. 31, f.401 r .
Paris, Bibl. Nat., Supplement gr.64,

'Ii)ou

i)e

5 i)L' :aL' i)L'

10
...

1. 2 3
4 6
7 8 !
9

ra s at «Proem. Behold, Omost devout one, enjoined

by thee have acted according to thy command, culling the fruit not from
my own deeds or words, but from God and from the Fathers who wrote
these things, and particularly from my obedience to thee. Be not as-
tonished; for what wonder that God, who opened the mouth of the ass
and preached through the onager and spoke through the deer and re-
buked through the horse to show himself capable of all things, should
draw from a stony heart to bedew with beneficial speech those who are
faithful and who humbly seek Him? For though the mind be sluggish,
most worthy Father, and the heart have been darkened by passions,
yet God is capable of purifying it again, by the prayers of saints, amen».
«About the ways of praying. There are two modes of ... »
(and so as 71 ff.).
Such is the Preamble. Its text is clear and is not likely to be
settled by any significant variants, though the above is, of course,

122. From here the 15 published begin. "About the ways

praying» is thus c]early just the sub-title the first them.
 The works of Gregory the 423

a collation such manuscripts as happen to be available at the time

writing. 123 But the case the title very different. Here, where
manuscript catalogues enable one to broaden the basis enquiry
without much difficulty, one does run against a disconcerting variety
versions. That which a translation was givfn,on a previous page,
as being probably the most authentic, figures in) 506, above)
the 14-15th cent. and runs as fo]]ows:

This men-
tion of Niphon is supported by Paris. Supplement gr. 64 (15th cent),
though it uses somewhat different words

and by 197 f the 14tl1,

f. 213 v (see Bees' posthumously published catalogue,
Academy of Athens 1967) which has precise!y the tit!e, omitting
on!y the and and numbering
the kepha!aia as 15, not 16. But to illustrate the extraordinary diver-
sity and unreliability these «titles», list below such other variants
as have come across. full review of a]J extant manuscripts contain-
ing this work Gregory's wouJd doubt revea! the existence
others; and the same is probably true some extent the titles and
sub-headings this author's other and indeed of many
works the «neptic» Fathers inc!uded the
Bod!eian. Baroc. gr. 81 (15th c.):

25
Bod!eian. Ho!kham gr. 31 and Baroc. gr. 213 (both 14/15th c.):

123. Another ms. apparently containing the same lext is Cod. 465 (14th c.)
of Gardthausen's of Sinai (Oxfor'd
124. .vhether this should be translated as ((who used practice hesy-
chia Lhe council chambers») the deliberations)), is clear. And what
is implied by either rendering? 1s "he controversy mentioned 119 meant?
125. This formula, compared with the preceding one, is garbled and therefore
less acceptable, being probably a corruption the other, though the emergence
the alternalive name Ioakeim is indeed intriguing.
is meaningless and the nominalive has nolhing
allach whereas ... Gregory ... who
had urged write of his name))) is grammatically perfect.
4/24 David Balfour
.'

Supplement Grec, no 64, 119r.

Proem the letter Niphon
 he works of Gregory the 425

Vatic. gr. 1746 (15th c.):

264

127
Vatic. Ottobon. gr. 459 (15th c.): ... ...

Vindob. theo1. gr. 201129 (16th c.?):

Paris Cois1in. 378 (15th c.):

As can be seen, one has to choose between formu1ae making the recip-
ient 1) Niphon, 2) J oakeim, 3) «a certain brother», 4) ((the brother of
the same name» (?) at Mt Sinai, and fina]]y, 5) a comp1ete1y different
tit]e, proc1aiming this to be «an easy and speedy method of progress,
concerning sobriety and prayer and attentiveness and how to practise
them». One constant most of these versions is the experession Et-
which may probab1y be taken as St Gregory's
own description of this «brief ..notice».
Some idea of its contents can be conveyed by quoting the sub-
headings 130 which the 15 kepha1aia:

Concerning the (two)

ways of praying.

126. Once more we have the unattached nominative The expres-

sion crops again Bodleian. Baroc. gr. 59 (15th c.),
iJ. propos of the recipient, the tit]e of the last of Gregory's sets of chapters.
There must have been some cl'oss-fertilisation between titles. Note also, below,
the variant
127. Judging by Rtandard dictionaries, there is really such adjective as
PapadopouJos-Kerameus ·IV) could have
corrected this The meaning seems be that Gregory of Sinai
wrote these chapters at the request of another Gregory of Sinai!
128. The incolIlpleteness of this description Feron and cataJogue
(Rome 1893) is tantalising.
129. Unfortunate)y Hunger and Kresten's new cataJogue has yet reached
this number; otherwise one would have more detail the ms.
130. attempt made here a critical version of them. Enough
has been said demonstrate how such titles differ from one ms. another. S()me
mss. omit them altogether. They are quoted below from the
426 David Ba1four

Concerning how one

must perform the (J esus) Prayer.
Concerning breathing.
Concerning how one must chant.
Concerning disagreement of
those who (prefer to) chant. l31
His rebutta]132 (four chapters).
Concerning illusion.
Concerning reading.
Four chapters without headings, monastic

5) The last work in the collection is a treatise in 7 unnumbered 133

chapters, generally quoted as how to
sit). Once more, this is not an title - there is none -
but simply the sub-title of the first chapter; its sense is
missed if it is not qnoted in fuJl,
(Concerning how the
Hesychast must sit down to the [Jesus] Prayer and not be quick to
rise again, - i.e., e r s i s t e c e in prayer). The technique of the
Hesychast is here described in detail, as can be seen from the other sub-
headings which follow it in the
- - - (Concern-
ing how one must say the prayer - control mind - away
thoughts - chant). But this last is really two: its second half
should be headed (Concerning how one must
take nourishment) or (Concerning food). This is wit-
nessed to by manuscripts,I.34 by the and by
a of this whole treatise in demotic Greek13r. appended, without

131. e. how some mistrust the Hesychast method prayer, as providing

rapid a short cut. and prefer (recitation liturgical matter).
132. Refutation of such mistrust: oral prayer can often be practised
mental. (The sub-heading is by a scribe, by the author).
133. Unnumbered, that is, the Greek editions and most Greek mss.
Yelichltovsky, editor of the Slavonic edition, numbers them 1 leaving
the question and answer without a number.
134. g. Bodl. Baroc. gr. 59 (15t11 c.) and 55? 46?? - 18tl1 c.).
135. This is numbered tl1ere as chapter 6.
.136. This "common Greek» translation also intercalates a long section
between those bl'eatl1ing and chanting; but it tUl'ns be made
of the foJlowing "Most beneficiaJ chapters»; 99, 101, 103, 104, 108, 106. Their
 The wOI'ks of Gregory the 427

explanation, Lowards the end of the and now occupying

90-103 of V (see 97: AfLer that
there a section (Concern-
ing iJIusion, including many matters); and finally, a question and an-
swer whaL do if the devil disguises himself as an angel of light.
Were the chapters numbered, this might count as the 8th.
These 7 or 8 chapters aI'e a brief but substanLial treatise the
contemplative life, addressed a very personal manner a monk
who is unnamed, but undoubtedly a real Its tone is remark-
ably friendly and warm, and though is outright its demands and
recommendations, treats the addressee with respect and encourage-
ment.

Such then are the five «works» of St Gregory of Sinai, which

has now been added his Discourse the Transfiguration. It is worth
noting that both the editio princepc>' of 1782 and subsequent Greek edi-
and Paisy Velichkovsky's Slavonic version (Moscow 1793) cover
the w h e collection with the description
zelo poleznyju, Most beneficial chapters) by printing at the
each and every page. True, that title does apply well over
half of the material, so that the error, if any, would be slight; but per-
haps there is more this than typographical We have seen
that item 3 of the. collection consists of k written for Longinos,
and item 4 written for Niphon (or Ioakeim); so would be
surprise if the remaining chapters were also composed for some spir-
iLual friend or disciple. And facL, Ch. of his ile of the
Patriarch KallistC1s puts us the track of such a one. For when Greg-
ory and his disciples first built themselves hermitage cells the Paroria
(see 53, above), a monk called Amirales was already insLalled there
a sho.rL disLance away with his own disciples, among whom was a cer-
tain Luke who had been Gregory's Athos. This Luke took

insertion here would seem have a long tradition behind for have found this
gl'oup of ff. 269v:271 v Cod, Dionysiou 442 (Athos 3967-15th c.),
'\'hel'e occupies, this time pul'e Greek, pl'ecisely the same place this series of
headings (LaInpl'os' cat.a!ugue deaJs inaccul'ately \vith this badly damaged and
often unreadable ms). BIJt the fact that the Most cha.pters fol'm an acl'os-
tic seems 1.0 exclude the solne them belonged originally any
olllel' ,..,ol'k by the
428 David Balfour

a sudden dislike to Gregory, attempted to attack him with a sword and

had to be physicaJly restrained by Amirales' group. Gregory remained
perfectly calm, nourishing resentment or desire for revenge. He is
said even to have been grateful for what had happened; indeed, for
Luke's benefit «he diligently wrote to 150 ascetic chapters, full of
practical and contemplative precepts».137 And this, the Slavonic version
adds, led Luke to repent, so that he became his disciple again and
turned out a proper monk. But «after a while), Amirales himself became
envious and obstreperous, so that Gregory left his neighbourhood for
Mount Katakekryomene.
Now the «Most beneficial chapters», which number 137, plus
the 7 «Other chapters» and the 7 or 8 chapters of item 5, the Treatise
add to 151 or 152: so taken together, they might well
be described as about 150 (or, literaJly, to 50 additional to 100»).
Thus there may be some justification for bringing them aJl under the
one global designation of «most beneficial». We need not hastily con-
clude, however. that they were rapidly improvised under the diffi-
cult circulnstan·:;es of Saint Gregory's first brief sojourn the Paro-
ria; for these amount to nearly 20,000 words of closely written
Greek. Probably the saint had been writing such things for years, and
this occasion handed Luke a copy of his colJecltion, adding a few
chapters for the latter's particular benefit. These may perhaps have been
the 7 «Other chapters» for the last set of 7 (8) chap-
ters the contemplative life seem slightly inappropriate to the case
of Luke, who appears to have been inexperienced and probably young,
whereas this last treatise is addressed to an elderly man (see Philo-
IV, 84, 16), whom Gregory sees as «Iiving the midst of the
weak», apparently a cenobitic monastery (ibid. 82, 33-35), but
whom he encourages to aim high as a Hesychast. It is regrettable that
we cannot identify either group of chapters as as that
would have neatly rounded off a of designation by addressee
(Longinos, Niphon, Luke).
view the variable and arbitrary character of the titles, it
is proposed that these s e t s of Chapters should simply be designated by
numbering them from to V, followed by the number of the
within each of them. Alternatively, if they must be described words,
these should be proper oyerall titles, if possibJe emanating from the

137.
 The works of Gregory the 429

author himself, and not simply the headings of the first of their com-
ponent chapters. Thus we will have:
1-137 =
1-7 =
1-1 =

1-15

1_8139

The first method seems far preferable owing its clarity and succinct-
ness, and order exemplify this,' numbers alone will be used as
references the rest of this·study. is noticeable how often the de-
scription hesychiaJ> figures the titles. the more reason for
abandoning them, and calling these works «The Chapters of Saint
Gregory of Sinai, series series series series and series V».
be continued)

138. The ,,\,ords (most beneficial) cannot be attribuLed the

author. Being a Jaudatory gloss by a scribe, they should be omitted from the
title.
139. Numbering the paragraphs they stand the buL counting
that beginning as (chapter 6) under the subheading 70U

(or concerning foodJ, and the final question the

demon as 8.