St Nikita, Bishop of Remesiana.

Commemorated June 24 in the Orthodox Christian Menaion

From the Prologue

A friend and contemporary of St Paulinus of Nola (see January 23rd), he was probably a Slav* and he preached the Gospel among the Slavsin the region around Nis and Pirot. The great impression that Nikita made on the Slavs is best shown by the hymn that St Paulinus composed in his honour:

'Oh, what a happy change! The hilly, impassable haunts of bloodthirsty robbers now shelter peace-loving dwellers, bandits-turned-monk. Where once the rule of the wild beast held sway, the choir of angels is now to be heard. The righteous now dwell in the caves where before were infamous men.'

St Nikita's capital was the city of Remesiana, which some people reckon to be Pirot. He wrote several books, six of them on the Faith and one on a fallen woman who awoke many to repentance. St Nikita entered into rest in the Lord in about 414.

*Author's Note: Philaret says in his book: 'The Saints of the Southern Slavs', that Nikita was a Slav and lived in Pirot.

From The Prologue From Ochrid by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
©1985 Lazarica Press, Birmingham UK