Temptation of Saint Nikita of the Caves. Visiting the sorceress: * Rev. Nikita, recluse of the Caves, Bishop of Novgorod Prayer before the icon of St. Nikita
When and where St. Nikita was born, who were his parents, no news has come down to us. We also know nothing about the years of his childhood and adolescence. It is only known that during the reign of the Grand Duke of Kiev, Izyaslav Yaroslavich, he was already a young monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery and here he experienced a great temptation, as St. Polycarp narrates in a letter to Archimandrite Akindin of the Caves.
The young monk Nikita, looking with reverence at the high deeds of the Pechersk brothers and partly carried away by the glory and honor of the world, wished to labor in seclusion. He asks for blessings from his hegumen, the Monk Nikon. But, forbidding Nikita to act as he wished, the hegumen told him: “Child, it will not be of any use to you that in the years of your youth you will begin to sit alone in idleness; it is much better for you to stay and live with the brethren and work for them - then you will not lose your reward. You yourself saw our brother Isaac, how he was deceived by demons in prison; but he was saved by the great grace of God through the prayers of Saints Anthony and Theodosius, who still work many miracles.”
Nikita answered that he would no longer be deceived like Isaac, but would firmly stand against the wiles of the devil and pray to God that the Lord would grant him the gift of miracles, like Isaac the hermit. But the abbot again objected to him: “Your desire is beyond your strength; beware, child, lest, being exalted, you fall. Our humility commands you to serve the holy brethren, and for this you will be crowned by God.”
Nikita did not listen to the hegumen and did what he planned: shutting himself firmly in his cell, he prayed in it indefinitely. But several days passed, and the devil tempted him. Once, while singing prayers, Nikita heard a voice praying with him, and felt an inexplicable fragrance. The deceived monk thought: “If it weren’t for an Angel, he wouldn’t be praying with me, and there wouldn’t be such a fragrance of the Holy Spirit here.”
Nikita began to pray with great fervor, crying out: "Lord, appear to me Thyself, that I may see Thee." And then a voice came to him: "I will not appear to you, because you are young, so that you do not become proud and fall." The recluse said with tears: “I will not be deceived, Lord, the abbot ordered me not to heed the demonic charms. I am ready to carry out Your commands."
From that moment on, the deceiver took power over him and said: “It is impossible for a man in the flesh to see me, but I send my angel who will be with you, but you do his will.”
And immediately a demon in the form of an angel stood before Nikita. The monk bowed to him like an angel. And then the demon said to him: “Don’t pray anymore, but read books, and through this you will constantly talk with God and give helpful tips coming to you. I will ceaselessly pray to the Creator of all for your salvation.”
The deceived hermit completely stopped praying and, seeing the constantly praying demon, rejoiced that the Angel was praying for him; but he himself did nothing but diligently read books and taught those who came to him, and at times prophesied.
Once he sent a message to Prince Izyaslav to send his son Svyatopolk to the throne of Novgorod as soon as possible, since Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich was killed in Zavolochye. And indeed, a few days later the news came that Prince Gleb had been killed by the Zavolotsk miracle. It happened on May 30, 1078.
Since that time, great fame has gone about the recluse Nikita. The princes and boyars believed that the recluse was a prophet, and obeyed him in everything and in many ways. Although the demon does not know the future, he proclaims what he himself does or what he teaches. evil people: whether to kill someone, whether to steal. So it was with Nikita: when they came to him for a word of instruction and consolation, then the demon, an imaginary angel, informed the hermit about what had happened, and he prophesied, and the predictions came true.
But this is what attracted the special attention of the Pechersk ascetics: monk Nikita knew by heart all the books Old Testament and did not want to see or hear, and not just to read the Gospel and the Apostle - those Holy books that are given to us by grace for our correction and confirmation in the faith. It became clear to everyone that Monk Nikita was deceived by the enemy of the human race. The Reverend Fathers of the Caves could not tolerate this.
Together with their hegumen, the Monk Nikon, they came to the deceived hermit and, by the power of their prayers, drove the demon away from him.
Having taken Nikita out of the lock, they asked him about the Old Testament, but he swore that he had never read those books that he had previously known by heart; he did not even know how to read a single word in them, and the brethren barely taught Nikita to read and write. Having come to his senses through the prayers of the holy brethren of the Caves, Nikita confessed and with bitter tears wept over his sin before them, and then doomed himself to strict abstinence and monastic obedience. With a pure and humble life, he acquired high virtues, the fame of which spread far beyond the borders of the Kyiv land.
The philanthropic God accepted the true repentance of Nikita and made him the shepherd of the verbal flock of Christ. In 1096, Saint Nikita was chosen by Divine Providence and consecrated Bishop of Veliky Novgorod, where the Lord glorified His saint with the gift of miracles. In the second year of his hierarchship, Nikita, with his prayers, stopped a great fire in Novgorod. Another time, during a drought that threatened the Novgorod land with famine, through his prayers, the rain revived the fields and meadows with fields and grasses.
According to the life story of St. Anthony the Roman, the ascetic miraculously arrived in Novgorod during the life of St. Nikita and, with his blessing, founded his monastery.
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Saint Nikita was preoccupied with the arrangement and decoration of the churches of God in Novgorod, but of the churches built in his time, only one has survived to this day - Blagoveshchenskaya on Gorodische. And to this day there is a monument to his concern for the improvement of the Novgorod Bishop's House - this is a stone building, which is known both in written monuments and in folk tradition under the name of Nikitinsky.
Saint Nikita had the intention of decorating the walls of Hagia Sophia with painting; but he did not succeed: “at the expense of the saint” the painting of the cathedral was made only after his death, several months later. Saint Nikita reposed on January 30, 1108, after 13 years of governing the Novgorod diocese. His honest relics were buried in the cathedral church of St. Sophia, in the chapel of the godfather Joachim and Anna.
Probably, the local celebration of the memory of St. Nikita began soon after his death. From the middle of the XII century, the news has been preserved: “And now they honor him, the holy and blessed Nikita, with the saints.” But it is not known at what time, at least until the middle of the 16th century, honoring his memory ceased in Novgorod. The universal celebration of Saint Nikita was established, if not at the Moscow Councils of 1547 and 1549, then after the discovery of his relics, which took place on April 30, 1558.
Uncovering the Holy Relics of Saint Nikita happened under the following circumstances.
In the evening of 1551, on Great Saturday, when Christians gathered in St. Sophia Cathedral to listen to the reading of the Acts of the Apostles before bright matins, the boyar, who was in charge of royal affairs in the city, came there, and, bypassing the cathedral porches, occupied by the tombs of bishops, went into the chapel of the godfather Joachim and Anna, in which the tomb of St. Nikita was in complete neglect. The church reader at that time was sleeping, leaning on her. Coming out of the limit, the boyar went to main temple, where on the left side near the doors leading to the altar, he sat down and soon fell asleep himself. In a dream, he heard a voice that told him: "The coffin of Bishop Nikita must be covered."
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Obeying this voice, the boyar went home; from there he soon returned with a cover, which he placed on the tomb of St. Nikita, having previously cleared it of dust and litter. Motivated by the desire to look at the relics of the saint, the boyar made a slit in the tomb and saw that the body of the saint lay covered with a veil on the church platform, completely intact, without signs of destruction. Little by little, other residents of this city also learned about this, from time to time they looked into the crack of the tomb and marveled at what they saw. This continued until 1558.
In the same year, Archbishop Pimen, convinced through others and personally of the incorruptibility of the relics of Saint Nikita, reported this in writing to the tsar and the metropolitan, who with great joy commanded him to open the tomb of the saint, to transfer his body to a new wooden tomb so that it would openly rest, and establish a church-wide celebration of the saint. To open the tomb of the saint, the iconostasis had to be dismantled, since the chapel of the godfather of Joachim and Anna was very small and half of the saint's tomb was in the altar.
When the tomb was opened, they saw that the body of the saint rested in the ground, two cubits below the platform of the church; it was covered with a shroud, and the face of the saint was illuminated by heavenly light; His right hand, blessing, lay on his Persians, while his left was stretched out to his knees; the right foot was turned with the sole up, the left to the side. Having dressed the saint in new bishop's clothes, he was again laid in the tomb in the same place.
At the appointed time, Archbishop Pimen, with a large congregation of clergy, performed prayer singing at the tomb of Saint Nikita, during which his venerable relics were transferred to the “prepared bed” and transferred to the main cathedral church, where an all-night vigil was then served. During the divine service, when the statutory reading was taking place and the clergy were sitting, one of the abbots had a vision that Saint Nikita, having risen from the tomb, in a phelonion and with a censer in his hands, went first to cense in the altar, and then to the church and soon became invisible.
At the end of the all-night vigil, the people venerated the relics of the saint, and the archbishop transferred them to the tomb, which, by order of the metropolitan, was temporarily placed on the right side of the temple near the small pillar against the pulpit until the completion of work to expand the chapel of the holy father Joachim and Anna.
Soon after finding the relics of St. Nikita, one of the rulers of the city revealed his doubts about their incorruptibility. To dispel his doubts, Archbishop Pimen opened the veil on the relics of the saint before Perseus. Seeing the face of the saint, like that of a healthy sleeping person, the mayor repented of his sin. Despite this, the city priests soon came to the archbishop with a request to give them the opportunity to see for themselves the incorruptibility of the relics of St. Nikita.
The archbishop imposed a seven-day fast on them to repent of their sins, after which the clergy gathered at the relics of St. rose, and with it the whole body began to move. The priests were amazed at the miracle and asked the archbishop to allow them to annually commemorate this incident to send prayer singing to the whole cathedral at the relics of the saint, which is why the archbishop established a feast on the fifth of the second week in the week of All Saints.
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The demand made by the clergy of Novgorod to their archpastor to examine the relics of St. Nikita can be explained as follows. At that time, the heresy of Theodosius Kosoy was very widespread, rejecting, among other things, the veneration of holy icons and relics; it also had its effect on the clergy and partly shook their faith in miracles.
Meanwhile, many miracles took place at the relics of St. Nikita, after they were found: the paralyzed, the lame, the withered hands, the lepers, the possessed received healing, but it is worthy of special attention that those who were mostly healed were sick with eyes, blind or with impaired vision.
When the honest relics of St. Nikita were found and a striking healing of one paralytic took place, many residents of Novgorod and the surrounding area began to flow to the relics of the miracle worker with their sick. Among the sick was an old and blind Xenia, who had not seen anything for 12 years. At that time, the liturgy was going on. Xenia prayed to the Lord for healing, turned her thoughts to Saint Nikita, and then, with tears, she said publicly to Archbishop Pimen, who was standing in the church: “I pray to you, my Grace Archbishop: pray to your comrade-in-arms, the great saint and miracle worker Nikita, so that he will grant me insight.” .
And more than once repeated her blind prayer. Seeing the woman’s perseverance and her tears, the archbishop said: “Get away from me, old woman, get away, go to Saint Nikita, and he will save you according to your faith, if he pleases.”
At the tomb of Saint Xenia, she prayed fervently, and one of her eyes began to see. But she took the courage to turn again to Archbishop Pimen, falling at his feet, and with tears of joy she again begged that through the prayers of the archbishop her other eye would also see. Vladyka answered her: “I see, old woman, that you are many years old, and one eye would be enough to serve you until your death.”
But Xenia, with the same persistence, tearfully pleads with the archbishop. He sends her again to the tomb of St. Nikita with the words: "He who opened one eye to you will open the other."
Xenia again comes to the shrine of the miracle worker, adds tears to her tears and weaves prayers with heartfelt sighs and faith. And the hope of the woman was not in vain: she saw the light in the second eye, to the general surprise of those who were then in the church of Hagia Sophia.
Archbishop Pimen ordered the icon painter Simeon to paint an icon of the Mother of God with the Divine Infant, and before Them, standing and praying with uplifted hands, St. Nikita. The saint did not have a beard at all. And the icon painter thought that it was necessary to depict on the icon at least a small brada on the face of St. Nikita. Thinking about this, Simeon began to doze, went to his bed and fell asleep. And in a thin dream, he suddenly heard a voice: “Simeon, you are thinking of writing Bishop Nikita’s beard! Don't think about it, for he didn't have a beard. And to erect other icon painters so that they do not write Bishop Nikita with a beard on the icons.
Simeon woke up, but saw no one. He hastened to convey his vision to Archbishop Pimen, and the Archbishop glorified God. The image of the saint was painted as he himself commanded.
At the same time, in every place and under every circumstance, Saint Nikita appeared to help those who, with faith and prayer, resorted to him. During the uncovering of the relics of St. Nikita, through his prayers, God crowned Russian weapons with victory in the war against the Livonians. During the capture of Rugodiv, both the Russian army and the enemy saw that St. Nikita rides along the banks of the Narova River on a horse in hierarchal robes and with a rod in his hand, crowned with a cross, repulses the enemies from the Russian regiments. This was witnessed by the soldiers themselves, who returned to Novgorod; the same was confirmed by the elder of the city of Rugodiva - a Latin, named John, when he saw the image of St. Nikita.
At present, the relics of St. Nikita openly rest in the same place where they were found: under the arch between the aisles of the Father of God Joachim and Anna and the Mother of God of the Nativity in a rich silver shrine, into which they were transferred from the ancient one in 1846, on April 30.
The memory of the saint is celebrated twice a year: January 31 / February 13 and April 30 / May 3, according to the old style - on the day of finding his honest relics.
Veneration, miracles
The very first life of St. Nikita is found in the letter of Polycarp to Akindin of the XIII century. In 1547 he was glorified for general church veneration throughout the Russian Church. On the night of April 30, 1558, a man with a barely noticeable beard appeared in a dream to the Novgorod hierarch Pimen and said: Peace be with you, beloved brother! Do not be afraid, I am your primate, the sixth bishop of Novgorod, Nikita. The time has come, and the Lord commands to open my relics to the people.»
Waking up, Archbishop Pimen heard the bell for matins and hurried to the cathedral. On the way, he met the pious Novgorodian Isaac, who on the same night also saw in a dream St. Nikita, who ordered him to tell Vladyka not to delay opening the relics. Hearing from Isaac about the vision he had had, the archbishop immediately set about opening the holy relics. When the lid of the tomb was raised, they saw the sacred treasures of grace: not only the body of the saint of God, but also his vestments were preserved in incorruption. At the same time, a posthumous portrait was drawn from the face of the saint, the details of the appearance and vestments of the saint were clarified, and the information was sent to Metropolitan Macarius in Moscow to clarify the icon-painting tradition. The relics subsequently rested in the church of St. Philip the Apostle.
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In 1942, the Nazis drove over three thousand Novgorodians to Lithuania. In the autumn of the same year, in the Lithuanian town of Vekshni, where the Novgorodians were assigned to settle, a German military train brought five silver shrines with the relics of Novgorod saints. The rector of the local church, Archimandrite Alexy (Cheran), who arrived immediately, was the first to identify the shrine of St. Nikita.
All the relics were immediately transferred to the church, and Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) of Lithuania telephone conversation instructed the rector to open the shrines and straighten the robes of the saints before the all-night vigil.
Father Archimandrite himself writes: After a long journey, the saints in the shrines moved from their place and they had to be put down in the proper way, and therefore the Lord vouchsafed me, the unworthy one, the Lord to raise Saint Nikita entirely, in my arms, with the help of Hierodeacon Hilarion. The saint was dressed in a dark crimson velvet phelonion, on top of which lay a large omophorion of forged gold brocade. His face was covered with great air; on the head is a golden miter darkened by time. The face of the saint is wonderful; the completely preserved features of his face express strict calmness and at the same time meekness and humility. The beard is almost invisible, only sparse vegetation on the chin is noticeable. Right hand, blessing, is composed of two fingers - a strongly darkened place from application for 400 years clearly stands out on it. Wonderful is God in His saints!»
The entire Orthodox people, who found themselves in that Lithuanian region, met the holy relics with trepidation and enthusiasm. At the same time, Hierodeacon Hilarion, who was helping the rector of the temple to put the relics of the saints in order, a man not very educated, but burning with faith, twice saw one dream: Saint Nikita, dressed in a mantle, stood in the middle of the temple and read the penitential canon.
Hierodeacon, who entered the temple and saw the bishop, immediately fell at his feet and asked for blessings. The saint blessed the Novgorodian with a gesture and said: Pray all for deliverance from the disasters coming to our homeland and people. The wicked enemy takes up arms. You must all before the service of God to receive the blessing«.
After these words, the saint became invisible. Having learned about this, Metropolitan Sergius established a rule that before the beginning of each service, when opening the shrine of St. Nikita, the clergy should go out and kiss the right hand of St. Nikita, return to the altar, and then only begin the liturgy.
This tradition is honored even now by the Novgorod priesthood. The relics of St. Nikita are now resting in St. Sophia Cathedral, and the priests of the cathedral must venerate them before the start of divine services.
Days of Remembrance:
- June 17 (transitional) - Cathedral of the Novgorod Saints
- February 13
- May 13 - Uncovering the relics
- May 27
NIKI NOVOGORODSKII
Troparion, tone 4
Having enjoyed, God-wise, abstinence / and curbing the desire of your flesh, / you sat on the throne of hierarchy, / and like a many-light star, enlightening faithful hearts / with the dawns of your miracles, our father, Saint Nikito, / and now pray to Christ God, / yes, save our souls.
Another troparion, tone 2
Desiring heavenly space, / from youth in a narrow place you shut yourself up, / in it you were deceived from the enemy, / again with humility and obedience / you defeated the strong charmer, Nikito, / and now, standing before Christ, / pray that we all be saved.
Kontakion, tone 6
And having honored the hierarchical rank / and purely standing before you, / you diligently brought prayer for your people, / as if you brought down the rain with prayer, / when you extinguished the hail of fire. / And now, to St. Nikito, / pray to Christ God / save your praying people, / yes, we all cry out to you: / rejoice, holy hierarch.
Another kontakion, tone 1
Having defeated the enemy’s flattery / and shining brightly with virtue, / you put on the clothes of hierarchs, most glorious Nikito, / in it with the light of your life and miracles shining more than the sun, / having enlightened many, you brought Christ, / Him pray for us who sing thee.
Saint Nikita of the Caves, became one of the first Russian saints. But before he was elected Bishop of Novgorod, the young monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery experienced a terrible temptation, which serves as an example of the necessary precaution in spiritual life.
This temptation is told in the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon - a collection of stories about saints.
In the book about our reverend father Nikita the Recluse, it is said that he was deceived by the devil, who appeared to him in the form of an angel. And then Nikita became, as if wise and a prophet. When he repented, he forgot everything. Then he was a bishop and miracle worker of Novgorod.
More than others, such brave warriors are revered, who are used to fighting not in a regiment, but alone rush to the enemy. And, if the Lord often allows them to fall for a while, so that they would not be exalted, but, seeing their former zeal and courage, does not leave them to the end. Restores them and makes them invincible.
Among such brave warriors of Christ in the Holy Caves Monastery were St.
- During the time of the abbess of the Monk Nikon, there was a brother in the Holy Caves Monastery, named Nikita. He began to ask the abbot to bless him to labor alone, having entered the seclusion.
The abbot prevented this, saying:
“Child, it’s no use for you, being young, to sit in idleness. It would be better for you to stay with the brethren and work together, and you will not lose your reward.
You yourself saw our brother Isaac of the Caves, how he was seduced by demons in seclusion, if the great grace of God had not saved him, through the prayers of our venerable fathers Anthony and Theodosius!
Nikita replied:
“No, father, I will not be seduced by such a thing. But I want to stand strong against the machinations of demons. And I will pray to the philanthropist God, so that he would give me the gift of wonderworking, like Isaac the Recluse, who still works many miracles.
The abbot again said to him:
- Your desire is beyond your strength. Beware, child, lest you fall down in arrogance, I command you to serve better than the brethren, and for your obedience you will be crowned by God.
Nikita, on the other hand, could not obey the words of the abbot. I could not suppress in myself a great zeal for a reclusive life. And he did what he intended. He closed and closed the door tightly. And he stayed alone, in prayer, without going out.
But soon he did not escape the devil's nets. While singing, he heard a voice praying with him. And felt an unspeakable fragrance.
Enticed by this, he said to himself:
“If it wasn’t for this angel, he wouldn’t be praying with me. And there would be no smell of the Holy Spirit here. He began to pray earnestly, saying:
“Lord, show yourself to me so that I can see You!”
- I will not appear to you, because you are young, so that you do not fall down, arrogant. The hermit said with tears:
- I will not be deceived, because the abbot taught me not to heed the charms of demons. I will do whatever you say!
Then the soul-destroying serpent, having obtained power over him, said:
“It is impossible for a person in the body to see me. But I send my angel to be with you, and you do his will. And before him stood a demon in the form of an angel. Nikita fell on his face and bowed to him like an angel.
The devil said to him:
“From now on, you don’t pray anymore. But read the books of the Old Testament. This is how you will talk to God. Give useful advice to those who come to you. I will always pray to the Creator of all for your salvation.
Having believed, the hermit was even more deceived, and no longer prayed, but diligently read books and constantly saw the demon praying for him. And he rejoiced, thinking that an angel was doing a prayer for him.
Nikita talked a lot with those who came to him, from the Old Testament Scriptures about the benefits of the soul. He began to prophesy. And great fame went about him. So everyone marveled at how his words came true.
Once Nikita sent to Prince Izyaslav, saying:
– Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich was killed today. Hurry, send your son Svyatopolk to the throne of Novgorod. And as he said, so it happened. A few days later, news came of the murder of Prince Gleb. Even more he was known as a prophet. The prince and the boyars listened attentively to him.
If the demon does not know what will happen; but what he did himself, or what he taught evil people to kill or steal, he can point out. Also, when they came to the hermit for a word of consolation, then the demon, an imaginary angel, told him everything that had happened to them, and he prophesied, and so it came true.
No one could compete with him in knowledge of the books of the Old Testament. He knew Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Judges, Kings by heart. And all the prophecies in order. And he knew all the Hebrew books well.
But I never wanted to see or hear, let alone read, the gospel and apostolic holy books given to us by grace in order to be corrected and affirmed. And he did not allow to talk to himself from the New Testament. Therefore, everyone understood that he was deceived by the enemy.
Alarmed by this, the Monk Fathers Nikon Abbot, John, who was hegumen after him, came to the deceived Nikita. Pimen Postnik and Isaiah, who was Bishop of Rostov. Matthew the Perspicacious and Isaac, the cave recluse. Agapit the doctor, Gregory the Wonderworker, Nicholas, who was the Bishop of Tmutarakan. Nestor the chronicler, Gregory, the creator of the canons. Feoktist Bishop of Chernigov, Onesiphorus the Perspicacious. All of them, shining with virtues, having come, made a joint prayer to God for Nikita. By fasting and prayer they drove away the demon from him, so that he did not see him again.
Leading the paralytic out of the cave, they asked him to tell them something from the Old Testament. He swore that he never read those books that he previously knew by heart. And he did not know a single word, because he was barely taught to read and write.
Then, having come to his senses through the prayers of the venerable fathers, he confessed his great sin and bitterly wept over it. He took upon himself great abstinence and obedience, starting a pure and humble life, so that he surpassed everyone in virtue.
The philanthropic Lord, seeing such asceticism of the blessed one and not despising his former virtues, to which he accustomed himself in his youth, accepted his true repentance.
And how, accepting the repentance of Peter, who had rejected Him three times, he said to him: “Feed My lambs, feed My sheep, feed My chosen ones” (John 21:15, 16). He gave a sign of favorable repentance to the blessed Nikita. For his great love for keeping all the commandments, He made him the shepherd of His verbal flock, enthroning the bishopric of Novgorod.
In Novgorod, as an assurance and a clear proof of forgiveness to the saint, which was before the fall, he glorified his virtuous life with the gifts of miracles. During the lack of rain, he prayed, and brought the rain down from the sky. Bishop Nikita put out the fire in the city with a prayer, and performed many other miracles.
And, having wisely saved his flock, he reposed in the Lord on May 27 (14), 1109. The saint's relics and vestments were later found incorruptible.
So tempted was Nikita, like gold. He was worthy of the crown of eternal life. May we also be honored with it, through the prayers of our reverend father Nikita. Let us remember the caution that is necessary in the spiritual life.
By the grace of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, to whom, with His Father without beginning and with the Most Holy, good and life-giving Spirit, honor, praise and glory are due. Now and forever and forever and ever, amen.
. The Kiev-Pechersk Patericon reports that he was overwhelmed by the temptation of the devil and could not stand it:
...and the devil deceived him. ... a demon appeared in front of him in the form of an angel. Falling down, the monk bowed to him like an angel. And the demon said to him: Do not pray, but only read books, and in this way you will converse with God, and from books you will begin to give a useful word to those who come to you. I will constantly pray for your salvation of my Creator". Enticed, the monk stopped praying, and diligently engaged in reading and book wisdom; seeing the demon constantly praying for him, he rejoiced at him, as if he were an angel praying for him.
Nikita began to prophesy, knew all the books of the Old Testament by heart, but refused to study the Gospel. The fame of him reached the Kyiv prince Izyaslav, to whom he informed about the murder of Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich and advised him to send his son Svyatopolk to Novgorod to reign. Hegumen Nikon, together with other monks, cast out the demon with prayers. Nikita, answering the questions of the brethren, swore that he had never read the books that he had quoted before and even stopped understanding the alphabet and was again taught to read and write. After that, according to the patericon, Nikita surrendered to " temperance, and obedience, and a pure and humble life, so that he surpassed all in virtue».
Nikita died in 1108 and was buried in the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral. In 1547, at the first Makaryevsky Cathedral, he was canonized for general church veneration. On April 30, 1558, the relics of Nikita were acquired by Archbishop Pimen, declared incorruptible.
More than others, those brave warriors deserve respect, who have the habit of fighting the enemy not in a general formation, but rushing at the enemy one by one. Although the Lord allows them to fall temporarily many times, so that they do not exalt themselves, however, he never leaves them completely without grace-filled help, but restores them and makes them invincible. One of these brave warriors of Christ, namely the blessed Nikita, gained special fame for himself after the Monk Isaac the Recluse. The most praiseworthy Polycarp reports about him from the words of Saint Simon as follows.
During his tenure as abbot of the Monk Nikon, a brother of the holy Pechersk Monastery, named Nikita, began to ask the abbot to bless him to asceticise in solitude and retire into seclusion.
My son! it will not do you any good, in your youth, to sit idly. It will be much better if you stay with the brethren and work together without losing your reward. You yourself saw how our brother Isaac the cave-dweller was tempted in seclusion by demons and would have died if he had not been saved by the great grace of God through the prayers of our venerable fathers Anthony and Theodosius.
Nikita replied to this:
Never, my father, will I be tempted by any temptation. I have the intention to firmly resist the demonic temptations and will pray to God, the Lover of mankind, that He would give me the gift of wonderworking, as once Isaac the hermit, who still works many miracles.
Then the abbot said to him more insistently:
Your desire is beyond your strength. Take heed, my son, lest you fall for your prestige. I command you to serve better than the brethren, and for your obedience you will be crowned by God.
However, Nikita did not want to obey the hegumen's instructions: he could not overcome his strong zeal for the reclusive life. Therefore, what he aspired to, he fulfilled: he closed himself in a cave, firmly blocked the entrance and remained alone in prayer, not going anywhere. However, after only a few days, he did not escape the wiles of the devil: during prayer singing, he heard a voice praying with him, and felt an inexpressible fragrance. Tempted by this, he thought to himself thus: if it were not an angel, he would not pray with me, and there would be no fragrance of the Holy Spirit here.
He began to pray even more earnestly, saying:
God! appear to me Thyself palpably, that I may see Thee.
I will not appear to you because you are young; otherwise you will become proud and may fall.
The recluse continued to tearfully ask:
Never, Lord, will I be offended. The abbot taught me not to listen to demonic temptations, but I will do everything that You command.
Then the soul-destroying serpent, having obtained power over him, said:
It is impossible for a man clothed with flesh to see me. Therefore, I send my angel to be with you, and you do his will.
Then immediately a demon appeared before him in the form of an angel. Nikita fell to the ground and bowed to him like an angel. Bes said to him:
From now on, you no longer pray, but read books. In this way you will converse with God, and you will give useful instructions to those who come to you, and I will always pray to the Creator of all for your salvation.
The hermit believed these words and, seduced, no longer prayed, but began to read books zealously. At the same time, he saw the demon constantly praying for him and rejoiced, thinking that it was an angel who was praying for him. With those who came to him, he talked a lot on the basis of Holy Scripture about the benefits of the soul; he even began to prophesy. His fame spread everywhere, and everyone marveled at the fulfillment of his predictions. Once he sent a notice to Prince Izyaslav: "Today Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich was killed; immediately send your son Svyatopolk to the princely throne in Novgorod." As he said, so it did. Indeed, a few days later, news came of the murder of Prince Gleb. From that time on, they began to talk even more about the recluse, that he was a prophet, and both princes and boyars fully believed him. - In fact, the demon, of course, does not know the future, but what he himself did - if, for example, he taught evil people to kill or steal, then he proclaims. In the same way, when those who sought consolation from him came to the hermit, the demon, revered by him as an angel, told him everything that had happened to them. Nikita prophesied, and everything he predicted came true.
At the same time, no one could compare with Nikita in knowledge of the books of the Old Testament; he knew everything by heart: the book of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Judges, Kings, all the prophecies in order. In general, he knew all the books of the Old Testament very well, but he never wanted to see or hear, not only to read the holy gospel and apostolic books given to us by the grace of God for our salvation and establishment in goodness; he did not want to talk to anyone about the New Testament. Hence it became clear to everyone that he was tempted by the devil. Dejected by this, the venerable fathers came to the tempted father: hegumen Nikon, John, who was after him hegumen, Pimen the fast, Isaiah, who later became the bishop of Rostov, Matthew the seer, Isaac the hermit, Agapit the doctor, Gregory the Wonderworker, Nikolai, the former bishop of Tmutarakan, Nestor the chronicler , Gregory the compiler of the canons, Theoktist, former bishop of Chernigov, Onesiphorus the seer. All of them, glorified by virtues, having come, offered up prayers to God for Nikita and drove the demon away from him, so that Nikita no longer saw him. Then, leading him out of the cave, they asked him to tell them something from the Old Testament. He began to swear that he had never even read those books that he knew by heart very recently; moreover, now he did not know a single word of them. Now he could hardly be taught to read and write. Gradually coming to his senses through the prayers of the venerable fathers, he confessed his sin and bitterly repented of it. After that, he imposed on himself a special abstinence and exploits, began to lead a strict and humble life and surpassed others in virtues. The philanthropic Lord, seeing such deeds of blessed Nikita, not rejecting his former virtues, in which he practiced from the day of his youth, accepted his true repentance, and just as once accepting the repentance of St. Peter, who denied Him three times, said to him: feed the sheep My, so similar, gave the sign of acceptance of repentance to this blessed Nikita. For his great love, revealed in the observance of the commandments, the Lord created him the shepherd of His verbal flock, elevating him to the Novgorod episcopal throne. There the Lord, in order to assure the flock and fully convince them of forgiving the saint of the temptation that happened to him, glorified his virtuous life with the gift of miracles. So, once, during a lack of rain, the Saint prayed to God and sent down rain from heaven; another time he extinguished the fire of the city with his prayers; he performed many other miracles. After the good management of his verbal flock, he passed to the Lord in eternal life, in 1108, January 30. He was a bishop for thirteen years. He was buried with honor in the chapel of the great church of the holy fathers of God Joachim and Anna. The body of the blessed Nikita remained hidden in the coffin for four hundred and fifty years, and then in 1558, during the reign of the pious sovereign John Vasilyevich, autocrat of all Russia, under Metropolitan Macarius and under Archbishop Theodosius of Novgorod, the relics of Saint Nikita were found whole and completely unharmed. To this day they radiate many healings to those who come to them in faith. Glory to our God, now and forever, and forever and ever, amen.
The Monk Nikita, a native of Kiev, was one of the first tonsurers of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery. He labored there under the Monk Abbot Nikon (1078-1088). In his youth, monk Nikita, wanting to become famous among the monks, began to ask the abbot to bless him to asceticize alone, in seclusion. The abbot prevented him, saying: “Child! It is not good for you, being young, to sit idly. It is better for you to stay with the brethren, working together, and you will not lose your reward. You yourself saw our brother Isaac the Caveman, how he was deceived in a seclusion by demons; and only the grace of God and the prayers of our venerable fathers Anthony and Theodosius saved him. Your desire is beyond your strength." Nikita, however, did not at all want to heed the words of the hegumen, since he could not overcome his strong zeal for a reclusive life, and therefore, he did what he wanted. And he, shutting himself up, barred the door firmly, and without going out, remained alone in prayer. A few days passed, as the monk did not escape the nets of the devil. During his singing, he heard a certain voice, as if someone was praying with him. At the same time, Nikita smelled an indescribable fragrance. Then a demon appeared before him in the form of an angel. And the inexperienced ascetic, seduced, bowed to him as to an angel. Then the demon said to him: “From now on, do not pray any more, but read books and you will be a converser with God and give a useful word to those who come to you. I will always pray to the Creator for your salvation.” Nikita, believing what was said and being even more deceived, stopped praying, but began to read books more diligently, seeing the demon continually praying for him. Nikita rejoiced, thinking that the Angel himself was praying for him.
Soon Nikita improved so much in the study of the Old Testament that he knew it by heart. He also talked a lot with those who came to him from Scripture about the benefits for the soul. At the suggestion of the tempter, he began to prophesy, and great fame spread about him, everyone marveled at the fulfillment of his prophetic words. So, Nikita informed Prince Izyaslav about the murder of the Novgorod prince Gleb Svyatoslavich. Indeed, soon the news came that confirmed his words. The chronicles report that Prince Gleb was killed on May 30, 1079. So the prophecies of Nikita were fulfilled with amazing accuracy. This convinced the hermit of the correctness of his chosen path. Nikita did not think about prayer and repentance.
He often talked about the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, but avoided even mentioning the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, avoided talking about the Holy Gospel. Upon learning of this, the holy fathers of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra realized that the monk was in a dangerous state of spiritual delusion. They did not leave their brother in trouble. Reverend Fathers, having made many prayers for Nikita, they cast out a demon from him. After that they asked Nikita; whether he knows anything from the books of the Old Testament. Nikita swore that he had never read them and even turned out to have forgotten the letter, so the fathers again taught him to read and write. Then, having come to his senses, Nikita "confessing his sin and weeping bitterly about it, giving himself great abstinence and obedience, accept a pure and humble life, as if to surpass him all with virtue." The philanthropic Lord, seeing such great deeds of the blessed one, as well as his former virtues, accepted his true repentance. And just as Christ said to Peter, who had denied three times, after his repentance: “Feed my sheep,” so the Lord showed His mercy to Nikita, who sincerely repented, for then he elevated him to the bishopric of Novgorod.
In 1096, the Monk Nikita was raised to the episcopal rank by Metropolitan Ephraim of Kyiv (second half of the 11th century) and appointed to the see of Veliky Novgorod. In The Painting, or a Short Chronicle of the Lords of Novgorod, Saint Nikita is listed as the sixth Bishop of Novgorod.
From the time of his episcopal consecration, the labors of Saint Nikita multiplied, and the exploits that he performed in the monastery increased. “He will receive the flock and decorate himself with various kindnesses most of all, having in himself silence the root, abstinence a branch, fasting flowers, humility the fruit, adorned with love, perfected by alms, purity, and chastity, and truth from both, like walls, fenced and all rich in good morals.” The subject of special concern of St. Nikita was missionary activity to establish Christianity, spread and maintain piety in the diocese. During his twenty years as a bishop, he was an example of a virtuous life for his flock. In the Eulogy to Saint Nikita, it is said that he secretly gave alms to the poor, fulfilling the word of God: When you give alms, let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret (Matt. 6 :3-4).
Saint Nikita was an ardent prayer book and intercessor for his flock, and the Lord glorified his virtuous life by giving him the gift of miracles. Chronicles have preserved evidence of two cases of the miraculous salvation of Novgorod from disasters: in 1097, Saint Nikita, with his prayer, extinguished a fire that destroyed the city, and another time, during a disastrous drought, brought down rain. Obviously, therefore, he is revered by believers as a protector from fires and a patron of agriculture. It is also known that Saint Nikita was also revered as the defender of the fatherland, the patron of warriors. The chronicler, talking about the campaign of the Novgorod prince Mstislav and his victories, notes that Mstislav returned "to his city through the prayers of the Monk Nikita, Bishop of Novgorod."
The Novgorod saints were the first to show their activity in various social undertakings: they built and decorated churches with the help of the best craftsmen who were invited from Byzantium and Western Europe. The most significant literary works of Novgorod were created mainly at the sovereign's court. Thanks to the labors of St. Nikita, several churches were built in Novgorod that have not survived to this day, information about which is available in chronicles and ancient lives: the Transfiguration Church on Ilyina Street (rebuilt in 1574), the Annunciation Church on Gorodische (rebuilt in 1342 ), a wooden church of the Nativity Holy Mother of God in the Anthony Monastery.
Anthony Monastery - the second in Novgorod - was founded with the blessing of St. Nikita by the Monk Anthony the Roman († 1147; commemorated January 17/30, August 3/16, also on the first Friday after the feast day of the apostles Peter and Paul) at the beginning of the 12th century. With the assistance of Saint Nikita, the Monk Anthony received a territory for the monastery on the banks of the Volkhov River, where the stone stopped, on which Anthony miraculously sailed from Rome. Shortly before his death, St. Nikita, together with St. Anthony, marked out a place for a new stone monastery church, which he blessed to consecrate in the same way as the former (wooden) one - in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. Saint Nikita himself began to dig a ditch under its foundation. The temple was already built under his successor, Bishop John (1108–1130).
Saint Nikita ruled the Novgorod flock for 13 years and died peacefully in 1109, on January 31.
Already after the death of Saint Nikita, the painting of the walls of the Novgorod Cathedral in the name of Hagia Sophia the Wisdom of God began according to the will of Saint Nikita.
To this day, the stone building of the Novgorod Bishop's House is intact, both in monuments and in folk tradition known under the name of Nikitinsky. This is the oldest of the buildings of the bishops' corps that have survived to our time, was rebuilt to medium vaults.
With numerous labors and concerns for the improvement of the Novgorod diocese, Saint Nikita never left the purely feat of hermit monks: under the hierarch's clothes he wore heavy iron chains. The saint was buried in the Novgorod Sophia Cathedral, in the chapel in the name of Saints Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Most Holy Theotokos.
In 1547, under the Archbishop of Novgorod Theodosius (1542-1551), a certain pious Christian in Easter night During the service, he received a revelation instructing him to decorate the tomb of St. Nikita with a cover, which was carried out. In the same year, the all-Russian glorification of the saint took place at the church council. A few years later, Archbishop Pimen of Novgorod (1553–1570) opened the tomb with the blessing of Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow († 1563). The uncovering of the incorruptible relics of Saint Nikita took place on April 30, 1558. It is noteworthy that, with the help of the saint, it is predominantly the sick with eyes and the blind who receive healing.
The relics of the saint were transferred in 1629 from a dilapidated tomb to a new, wooden one, overlaid with silver basmen. Since the Ioakimov chapel was small in size, with the blessing of the Archbishop of Novgorod Pimen, a semicircular extension was made on the eastern side of the chapel, connected by an arch to the Christmas chapel. Under this vault, the relics of the saint were placed in the tomb. Novgorodians brought a lampada with a gilded inscription as a gift to their heavenly patron: "The candle of Veliky Novgorod, of all Orthodox Christians, was placed by the new Novgorod miracle worker Nikita in the summer of 7066, April 30, under Archbishop Pimen." This “candle” of St. Nikita, together with the ancient tomb, vestments, staff and chains, was later kept in the sacristy of the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral.
Currently, the tomb of St. Nikita is located in the church in the name of the holy Apostle Philip, where it resides in the northern aisle in the name of St. Nicholas.