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Gerasimos was born ''Elias Papadopoulos'' on [[October 10]], 1910, in the town of Bouzi (today called Kyllini) in the province of Corinth. His parents were Ioannis and Athanasia Papadopoulos. The fourth of ten children, Elias was marked early in life as having a sober and serious disposition. In elementary school, he was nicknamed "Pappou" (grandfather) by his schoolmates. He left school at age thirteen and took a series of jobs in business, including grocer's assistant, shoemaker's apprentice, and worker in a forge.

In 1928, Elias became a novice in the [[monastery]] of [[Mega Spelaion]]. Within two years he had moved to the [[St. Anne's Skete (Athos)|Skete of St. Anna]] on [[Mount Athos]]. He placed himself under the spiritual supervision of Monk [[Chrysostomos (Kartsonas)]], and was respected by the elders of the skete for his virtue and prudence. It was here that he was tonsured [[tonsure]]d a [[monk ]] and took the new name of ''Gerasimos''. He left the skete in 1934 with the blessing of his elder to undertake studies at the [[Theological Seminary of Corinth]]. In June of 1935, on the [[feast day]] of the [[Holy Spirit]], he was [[ordination|ordained]] to the [[deacon|diaconate]] by Metropolitan [[Damaskinos (Papandreou) of Athens|Damaskinos of Corinth]]. He entered the School of Theology of the University of Athens in 1938, but his studies were interrupted by the German invasion of Greece in 1940.

Gerasimos was ordained to the [[priest]]hood in May of 1941 by [[Metropolitan ]] [[Michael (Konstantinides) of America|Michael of Corinth]]. Damaskinos, now [[Archbishop ]] of Athens, appointed Gerasimos as director of the orphanage of Vouliagmeni. He held this position through the remainder of the war and the occupation of Greece, following which he agreed to become Chancellor of the [[Metropolis of Corinth]] in 1945. In 1947, he relocated to Germany, where he served as [[proistamenos]] of the Greek Orthodox church in Munich. It was during this service that he completed his first book ''Greek Philosophy as Propaideia to Christianity''.

Following one year of service as [[chaplain ]] to the student dormitory of [[Apostoliki Diakonia]], Gerasimos arrived in the United States in 1952 to become Professor of New Testament at [[Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology]], Brookline. His former Metropolitan, Michael, had been elected Archbishop of North and South America four years earlier, and sought to have his former Chancellor with him. He was eventually appointed sub-Dean, but ran into conflict with the Dean, Fr. [[Ezekiel (Tsoukalas) of Pisidia|Ezekiel (Tsoukalas)]], who removed him from the position. Nevertheless, he developed a strong bond with the students, who gave him the nickname "Fr. GULF." ("Gerasimos - Understanding, Love, Faith) in recognition of the topics he discussed avidly with them. Meanwhile, he undertook advanced studies at Boston University, where he received the degree of Master of Theology. Concurrently, he was invited to speak and give retreats throughout New England and in other forums throughout the United States.