Venerable Niketas the Recluse Bishop of Novgorod

Reclusion and Spiritual Deception

Niketas entered the Kiev Caves monastery as a young man and soon wished to become a recluse. The abbot cautioned that such a withdrawal was premature for one so inexperienced, but Niketas would not listen, declaring that he would not be deceived. In his enclosure he encountered what seemed to be signs of grace — a sweet fragrance and a voice joining his prayers — and when he asked to behold God, a demon appeared to him in the form of an angel, to which he bowed down.

Under this influence he abandoned prayer, devoted himself solely to the Old Testament, and began to deliver prophecies to visitors. The elders of the monastery grew suspicious when they observed that he never cited the New Testament, and understood that he had fallen into spiritual delusion. They broke into his cave, drove out the demon through their prayers, and brought him out of seclusion. By the accounts of his life he afterward could not recall the Old Testament he had once memorized and had to learn anew. He wept in repentance and took up the path of humility and obedience.

Episcopate and Miracles

In 1096 Niketas was raised to the episcopal throne of Great Novgorod, which he governed for thirteen years. He was remembered as a wonderworker: by tradition, during a drought he summoned rain through his prayers, and on another occasion he extinguished a fire in the city. He reposed after his thirteen years as bishop, his death recorded in the sources as 1108 or 1109.

Relics & Shrines

Niketas was glorified during the reign of Tsar Ivan Vasilievich. His relics were found incorrupt, vested in full episcopal garments, and uncovered in the sixteenth century. They were enshrined in the church of the Holy Apostle Philip in Novgorod, where he continues to be venerated. His memory is kept on January 31, on April 30 (the uncovering of his relics), and on May 14.