{{Short description|Monk and hermit}} {{Infobox saint | name= Nicetas of Novgorod | birth_date=25 May 1030 | honorific-prefix = Saint | death_date= 31 January 1108 (aged 77) |resting_place=Cathedral of Saint Sophia, Novgorod| feast_day= 31 January (Catholic Church) <br/>31 January (O.S.)<br/>30 April (O.S.)<br/>14 May (O.S.) (Eastern Orthodox Church) | venerated_in= Catholic Church<br />Eastern Orthodox Church | image= Nikita_of_Novgorod.jpg | imagesize= | caption=17th-century Russian icon | birth_place= Kiev | death_place= Novgorod | titles= Bishop of Novgorod | beatified_date= | beatified_place= | beatified_by= | canonized_date=1558 | canonized_place= | canonized_by= | attributes= | patronage= | major_shrine= | suppressed_date= | issues= }}

'''Nicetas'''{{efn|{{langx|ru|Епи́скоп Ники́та}}; {{Langx|uk|Єпи́скоп Мики́та}}.}} (also spelled '''Niketas'''; 1030–1108) was a monk of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Venerable Niketas of the Kiev Caves, Far Caves, Bishop of Novgorod |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/1986/01/31/100386-venerable-niketas-of-the-kiev-caves-far-caves-bishop-of-novgorod |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=www.oca.org}}</ref> Despite the objections of {{ill|Nikon the Abbot of the Caves|ru|Никон Печерский}}, Nicetas embraced the life of a solitary hermit at a young age.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Near caves |url=https://lavra.ua/en/ |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=Свято-Успенська Києво-Печерська Лавра (чоловічий монастир) УПЦ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kutash |first=Father Ihor |title=Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada |url=https://www.uocc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Venerable-Nicetas-Recluse-of-the-Kyivan-Caves-Monastery-Bishop-of-Novgorod.pdf |access-date=25 Aug 2025 |website=uocc.ca}}</ref>

== Spiritual delusion == According to tradition, Nicetas was plagued heavily by demonic torments during his time in solitude.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Online |first=Catholic |title=St. Nicetas - Saints & Angels |url=https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4842 |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=Catholic Online |language=en}}</ref> The devil appeared to him in the guise of an angel, and the ascetic bowed down to him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hermit Nikita of Novgorod, the Saint Who Fell and Started Over |url=https://obitel-minsk.org/en/hermit-nikita-of-novgorod-the-saint-who-fell-and-started-over |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=obitel-minsk.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=THE VENERABLE NICETAS OF THE MONASTERY OF THE CAVES IN KIEV - January 31 |url=https://www.orthodox.net/menaion-january/31-the-venerable-nicetas-of-the-monastery-of-the-caves-in-kiev.html |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=www.orthodox.net}}</ref> The devil gave him advice, and advised the monk not to pray, as the disguised devil would supposedly "pray for him". He stood near the hermit, giving the appearance of praying, falsely reassuring the deceived Nicetas. The hermit came to "surpass everyone in his knowledge of the Books of the Old Testament, but Nicetas would not speak about the Gospel, nor did he wish to hear it read."<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Saint Nicetas of the Kiev Caves – The Archives of Orthodox America |url=https://roca.org/oa/volume-vii/issue-66-68/saint-nicetas-of-the-kiev-caves/ |access-date=2025-08-26 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The devil would give Nicetas information on what was going on in the world, and the monk would prophesy to people who came to seek his guidance. The elders of the monastery understood that Nicetas was in a state of prelest, and broke into the cave, chased away the demons with their prayers, and dragged the hermit out.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rose |first=Father Seraphim |title=God's Revelation to the Human Heart |date=1981 |publisher=Saint Herman of Alaska Monastery |isbn=978-0938635031 |edition=2nd |publication-date=1987 |pages=16–19}}</ref>

Following this intervention, Nicetas forgot all that he had read in the Old Testament, and forgot how to read at all. Nicetas was taught how to read again, and with the blessings of the elders of the monastery, continued his hermitage; only with the addition of humility.

== Later life == Nicetas realized his wrongdoings, and repented from them with great sadness, humility, and fasting. By his humility, it is believed that God blessed Nicetas with the gift of miracle-working.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nikita (Nicetas) the recluse of the Kiev Caves, bishop of Novgorod, holy hierarch |url=https://stjohndc.org/en/list-of-relics/nikita-nicetas-recluse-kiev-caves-bishop-novgorod-holy-hierarch |access-date=25 Aug 2025 |website=stjohndc.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Brianchaniov |first=Bishop Ignatius |title=The Arena |publisher=Jordanville, New York: Holy Trinity Monastery |isbn=978-0884652878 |edition=2nd |publication-date=1983 |pages=31–34}}</ref>

In 1096, Nicetas was named to the office of Bishop of Novgorod. It is believed that his intercessions contributed to the release of rain during a severe drought, and also a fire in the city was extinguished by his prayers.<ref name=":1" /> He reposed on January 31, 1108, with 13 years as a bishop.

== Legacy and veneration == In 1558, during the reign of Tsar Ivan Vasilievich, Nicetas was glorified as a saint. In 1956, the relics of Nicetas were transferred by {{ill|Sergius Golubtsov|ru|Сергий (Голубцов)|lt=Bishop Sergius (Golubtsov)}} from the Sophia Cathedral to the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, and when it was closed in 1962, to the {{ill|Church of the Apostle Philip|ru|Церковь Апостола Филиппа и Николая Чудотворца (Великий Новгород)}}. In 1993, the relics of Saint Nikita were returned to the St. Sophia Cathedral.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tserpitsky |first=His Eminence Lev |title=Вновь со святителем Никитой |url=https://vn-eparhia.ru/images/www/zhurnal-sofiya/Sofia_2008_3.pdf |journal=СОФИЯ |language=ru |publication-date=2008 |issue=3 |pages=8–10}}</ref>

His feast days in the Eastern Orthodox Church are on: 31 January (the day of his repose), 30 April (the day of the Uncovering of his Relics in 1558), and 14 May. These are calculated as 13 February, 13 May, and 27 May, respectively, using the Gregorian calendar. Nicetas is commemorated on 31 January in the Catholic Church.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{in lang|el}} [http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/3169/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ὅσιος Νικήτας ὁ Ἔγκλειστος]. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref><ref>{{in lang|el}} [http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/1965/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ὅσιος Νικήτας ἐκ Κιέβου]. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref><ref>{{in lang|el}} [http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/2827/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ἀνακομιδὴ Τιμίων Λειψάνων Ἁγίου Νικήτα Ἀρχιεπισκόπου Νόβγκοροντ]. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref>

==Notes== {{notelist}}

== References == {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicetas Of Novgorod}} Category:1108 deaths Category:12th-century Christian saints Category:12th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Category:Eastern Orthodox saints from Kievan Rus' Category:Roman Catholic saints from Kievan Rus' Category:People from medieval Novgorod Category:Russian Benedictines