Nicetas ( Russ. Никита ''

Nikita Nikita may refer to: * Nikita (given name) * Nikita, Crimea, a town in Crimea * Nikita the Tanner, a character in East Slavic folklore Film and television *''Little Nikita'', a 1988 film * ''La Femme Nikita'' (film), also known as ''Nikita'', a 19 ...

'', Ukrain. Микита, from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Νικήτας '' Niketas'') is a Christian martyr of the 4th century, venerated particularly in the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. His feastday is 15 September.Butler's Lives of the Saints https://books.google.com/books?id=Xq8SvRG0Ku0C&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128&dq=saint+nicetas+the+goth+Catholic&source=bl&ots=lKp-puEpR5&sig=5WDlxr1h2ug3s7SDBH6i10dH7I0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjltvm05v7OAhWGdx4KHY5fDVsQ6AEIRTAH#v=onepage&q=saint%20nicetas%20the%20goth%20Catholic&f=false

Life

Nicetas, a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

soldier, lived in the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

region at the margins of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

."Greatmartyr Nicetas the Goth", Orthodox Church in America
/ref> Presumably, he received his Greek name on the occasion of his baptism by the Gothic bishop

Theophilus Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (God) and φιλία (love or affection) can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God", i.e., it is a theoph ...

, a participant in the First Ecumenical Council. Pagan Goths began to oppose the spread of Christianity, which resulted in internecine strife. Nicetas fought in the Gothic civil war between the pagan

Athanaric Athanaric or Atanaric ( la, Athanaricus; died 381) was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths () for at least two decades in the 4th century. Throughout his reign, Athanaric was faced with invasions by the Roman Empire, the Huns and a c ...

and the Christian

Fritigern Fritigern (floruit, fl. 370s) was a Thervingian Goths, Gothic chieftain whose decisive victory at Battle of Adrianople, Adrianople during the Gothic War (376–382) led to favourable terms for the Goths when peace was made with Gratian and Theodos ...

. After the defeat of Athanaric and after the invention of Gothic alphabets by

Ulfilas Ulfilas (–383), also spelled Ulphilas and Orphila, all Latinized forms of the unattested Gothic form *𐍅𐌿𐌻𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌰 Wulfila, literally "Little Wolf", was a Goth of Cappadocian Greek descent who served as a bishop and missionary ...

, Nicetas worked intensely among the Goths. He was condemned to the stake in 372. According to his ''Passio'', the devil, shaped as an angel, induced Nicetas to sacrifice to the pagan gods for saving his life; Nicetas, however, put him to flight by means of prayer and assisted by

archangel Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

. His body was buried it in Cilicia, and later transferred to Constantinople. In

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

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Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

there are several churches and monasteries named after St Nicetas. See Church of Saint Nicetas. St Nicetas is prayed to for the preservation of children from birth defects. The veneration of this saint in the medieval period gave rise to the Slavic forms of his name: ''

Mykyta Mykyta ( uk, Мики́та ) is a Ukrainian given name, cognate of Belarusian ''Mikita'' and Russian ''Nikita'', all originally borrowed from Greek ''Nicetas''. Notable persons with the name Mykyta include: * Mykyta Burda (born 1995), Ukrainian ...

and

Mikita Mikita is a Belarusian given name, cognate of Ukrainian Mykyta and Russian ''Nikita'', all originally borrowed from Greek '' Nicetas''. People with the given name * Mikita Brottman (born 1966), British scholar, psychoanalyst, author and cult ...

References

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Story and legend
(German) 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Christian saints 4th-century Romans 4th-century Gothic people Year of birth unknown {{saint-stub

Life

See also

References

External links