St. Nikita the Bishop of Novgorod and the Recluse of the Kiev Far Caves

Nikita was a young monk of the Kiev Caves monastery who, against the advice of Abbot Nikon, shut himself in a cave as a recluse. The Kiev Caves Patericon tells that he was soon led astray by a voice he took for an angel: he gave up prayer for reading, learned the whole Old Testament by heart, became famous for his predictions and refused even to hear of the Gospels.

The elders of the monastery prayed over him and brought him out; he then found he could remember nothing of what he had learned and had to be taught to read again. After long repentance he became bishop of Novgorod, served for thirteen years, and died on 30 January 1108. His relics were found in 1558.