Our Venerable Father Nikon the Metanoeite, the Preacher of Repentance
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Nikon the Metanoeite was a tenth-century Byzantine monk and itinerant preacher who carried a call to repentance across Asia Minor and the Greek lands. The synaxarion records that he was born at Pontus Polemoniacus early in the tenth century, the son of a wealthy landowner, and received the baptismal name Nicetas; some accounts place his birth around 930.
Rather than take over the management of his family's estate, he entered monastic life and devoted himself to prayer and asceticism. He took his enduring name from the Greek word with which he opened his sermons — "Metanoeite" ("Repent") — and from this habit was called Nikon Metanoeite, the Preacher of Repentance. He travelled and preached through Crete, the Greek islands, and the Peloponnese, building churches and a monastery in Sparta before his repose in 998.
Timeline 5 moments
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c. 930Birth at Pontus PolemoniacusBorn early in the tenth century, by the synaxarion's account at Pontus Polemoniacus, as the son of a wealthy landowner; he was given the name Nicetas in Baptism. Some sources place his birth around 930 and note an alternative tradition of an origin in the Peloponnese.
YouthMonastic tonsure at ChrysopetroDeclining to take over his family's affairs, he entered the monastery of Chrysopetro (the 'Golden Stone'), recorded as lying on the borders of Pontus and Paphlagonia, where he gave himself to austere penance and prayer. At his tonsure his name was changed to Nikon.
after 961Mission on CreteAfter preaching in Asia Minor, he began a mission on Crete following the island's recovery from Arab rule, remaining there about five years and preaching repentance.
Later lifePreaching through Greece and the PeloponneseHe travelled on through Euboea, Aegina, and the Greek mainland into the Peloponnese, reaching Sparta, where he built a church dedicated to Christ the Savior and established a monastery around it.
Nov 26, 998ReposeHe fell asleep in the Lord in 998, by the account of his repose on the peninsula; his feast is kept on November 26.
Contributions & Legacy
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Name and Preaching
Nikon's mission was defined by a single insistent theme. He is recorded as opening his sermons with the call to repentance — rendered in the tradition as "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" — and from his habitual use of the Greek imperative "Metanoeite" ("Repent") he received the name by which he is still known.
His preaching took him across a wide span of the Byzantine world. The sources trace his travels through Asia Minor and Armenia, across Crete after its liberation from Arab rule, and on through the Greek islands of Euboea and Aegina into the Peloponnese. The synaxarion records that he healed the sick and performed many miracles in the course of this itinerant ministry.
Work in Sparta and Legacy
In Sparta, Nikon built a church dedicated to Christ the Savior and founded a monastery around it; by some accounts he had several churches and a monastery raised in the city. He is credited with the spread of Christianity in the southern Peloponnese, including the Mani Peninsula.
He was later venerated as patron of Sparta, and in 1893 was named patron saint of the diocese of Monemvasia and Lakedaimonia. His feast is kept especially in Laconia and Mani on November 26, and he is depicted in the mosaics of the monastery of Hosios Loukas in Boeotia.
