Editing Gregory Palamas (section)

==Monastic life==
Despite the Emperor's ambitions for him, Gregory, then barely 21 years old, withdrew to [[Mount Athos]] in the year 1316 and became a [[novice]] there in the [[Vatopedi monastery]] under the guidance of the monastic [[starets|Elder]] St Nicodemos of Vatopedi. Eventually, he was [[tonsure]]d a [[monk]], and continued his life of [[asceticism]]. After the demise of the Elder Nicodemus, Gregory spent eight years of spiritual struggle under the guidance of a new Elder, Nicephorus. After this last Elder's repose, Gregory transferred to the [[Great Lavra]] of St. [[Athanasius the Athonite]] on Mount Athos, where he served the brethren in the [[Refectory|trapeza]] (refectory) and in church as a [[Cantor (church)|cantor]]. Wishing to devote himself more fully to prayer and asceticism he entered a [[skete]] called ''Glossia'', where he taught the ancient practice of mental prayer known as "prayer of the heart" or [[hesychasm]].

In 1326, because of the threat of Turkish invasions, he and the brethren retreated to the defended city of [[Thessaloniki]], where he was then [[Ordination|ordained]] a [[priest]]. Dividing his time between his ministry to the people and his pursuit of spiritual perfection, he founded a small community of [[hermit]]s near Thessaloniki in a place called [[Veria]].

He served for a short time as Abbot of the Esphigmenou Monastery but was forced to resign in 1335 due to discontentment regarding the austerity of his monastic administration.<ref>Archbishop Chrysostomos, Orthodox and Roman Catholic Relations from the Fourth Crusade
to the Hesychastic Controversy (Etna, CA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 2001), pp. 199‒232</ref>