 Their roots in theological and philosophical educational traditions are deliberately blurred.When he was about sixty-five years of age, the monks of Sinai persuaded him to become their Igumen.He acquitted himself of his functions as abbot with the greatest wisdom, and his reputation spread so far that, according to the "Vita", Pope Gregory the Great wrote to recommend himself to his prayers, and sent him a sum of money for the hospital of Sinai, in which the pilgrims were wont to lodge.