Those brave warriors who are more worthy of respect than others are those who have the custom of fighting the enemy not in a general formation, but who rush at the enemy individually. Although the Lord allows them to fall temporarily many times, lest they become overweening, He never completely abandons them without His grace-filled help, but restores them and makes them invincible. One such brave warrior of Christ, Blessed Nikita, gained particular fame after St. Isaac the Recluse. The praiseworthy Polycarp, citing St. Simon, reports the following about him.
When Saint Nikon was abbot, one brother of the holy Caves Monastery, named Nikita, began to ask the abbot to bless him to pursue asceticism in solitude and to retire into seclusion.
"My son! It will do you no good to sit idle in your youth. It will be far better if you remain with the brethren and, working together, do not lose your reward. You yourself saw how our brother Isaac the cave dweller was seduced by demons in seclusion and would have perished if he had not been saved by the great grace of God through the prayers of our venerable fathers Anthony and Theodosius."
Nikita responded to this:
"Never, my father, will I be tempted by any temptation. I intend to firmly resist demonic temptations and will pray to God, the Lover of Mankind, that He may grant me the gift of miracles, as He once granted to Isaac the Recluse, who continues to perform many miracles to this day."
Then the abbot told him more insistently:
"Your desire is beyond your strength. Beware, my son, lest you fall for your arrogance. I command you to serve better than your brethren, and for your obedience you will be crowned by God."
However, Nikita refused to heed the abbot's instructions: he could not overcome his intense zeal for the secluded life. Therefore, he accomplished what he had set out to do: he locked himself in a cave, firmly barred the entrance, and remained alone in prayer, never leaving. However, after only a few days, he did not escape the devil's wiles: while chanting prayers, he heard a voice praying with him and sensed an indescribable fragrance. Tempted by this, he reflected: "If it had not been an angel, I would not have prayed with you, and the fragrance of the Holy Spirit would not have been here."
He began to pray even more earnestly, saying:
– Lord! Show yourself to me tangibly, so that I may see you.
A voice followed:
“I will not appear to you because you are young; otherwise you will become proud and may fall.
The recluse continued to beg tearfully:
"Never, Lord, will I be tempted. The abbot taught me not to heed demonic temptations, but I will fulfill everything You command."
Then the soul-destroying serpent, having gained power over him, said:
"It is impossible for a man clothed in flesh to see me. Therefore, I send my Angel to remain with you, and you do his will."
Then immediately a demon appeared before him in the form of an angel. Nikita fell to the ground and bowed to him as to an angel. The demon said to him:
"From now on, don't pray anymore, but read books. This way, you will converse with God and give helpful instructions to those who come to you, and I will always pray to the Creator of all for your salvation."
The recluse believed these words and, deluded, no longer prayed, but began zealously reading books. He saw a demon constantly praying for him and rejoiced, thinking it was an angel praying for him. He spoke frequently with those who came to him, drawing on Holy Scripture to benefit the soul; he even began to prophesy. His fame spread far and wide, and everyone was amazed at the fulfillment of his predictions. One day, he sent a message to Prince Izyaslav (1078) : "Today, Prince Gleb Svyatoslavich (1079) has been killed; send your son Svyatopolk (1080) immediately to the princely throne in Novgorod." As he said, so it came to pass. Indeed, a few days later, news arrived of Prince Gleb's murder. From that time on, people began to speak of the recluse even more, claiming he was a prophet, and both princes and boyars fully believed him. In reality, the demon, of course, doesn't know the future, but what he himself has done—if, for example, he taught evil people to kill or steal—that he proclaims. Similarly, when people came to the recluse seeking words of consolation, the demon, whom he considered an angel, told him everything that had happened to them. Nikita prophesied, and everything he foretold came to pass.
Moreover, no one could compare with Nikita in his knowledge of the books of the Old Testament; he knew everything by heart: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Judges, Kings, and all the prophecies in order. In fact, he knew all the books of the Old Testament very well, but he never wanted to see or hear, much less read, the holy Gospels and Apostolic books, given to us by God's grace for our salvation and confirmation in goodness; nor did he want to converse with anyone about the New Testament. From this it became clear to everyone that he had been seduced by the devil. Dismayed by this, the venerable fathers came to the tempted one: Abbot Nikon , John, who became abbot after him, Pimen the Faster , Isaiah, who later became Bishop of Rostov, Matthew the Seer , Isaac the Recluse, Agapit the Physician, Gregory the Wonderworker, Nicholas, who was Bishop of Tmutarakan, Nestor the Chronicler , Gregory the Canonist, Theoctistus, who was Bishop of Chernigov, and Onesiphorus the Seer . All of them, renowned for their virtues, came, offered prayers to God for Nikita, and drove the demon away from him, so that Nikita no longer saw it. Then, leading him out of the cave, they asked him to tell them something from the Old Testament. He began to swear that he had never even read the books that he had so recently known by heart; moreover, now he did not know a single word of them. Now they could barely teach him to read and write. Gradually coming to his senses through the prayers of the holy fathers, he confessed his sin and bitterly repented of it. After this, he imposed upon himself special abstinence and ascetic labors, began to lead a strict and humble life, and surpassed others in virtues. The merciful Lord, seeing such exploits of Blessed Nikita, without rejecting his previous virtues, in which he had practiced since his youth, accepted his true repentance, and just as He once accepted the repentance of St. Peter, who had denied Him three times, and said to him: "Feed My sheep , " so He gave a similar sign of acceptance of repentance to this blessed Nikita. For his great love, revealed in the observance of the commandments, the Lord made him a shepherd of His rational flock, raising him to the Novgorod episcopal throne .There, to reassure his flock and fully convince them of His forgiveness for the temptation that befell the saint, the Lord glorified his virtuous life with the gift of miracles. Thus, once, during a rainless period, the saint prayed to God and brought down rain from heaven; another time, with his prayers, he extinguished a city fire; and he performed many other miracles. After guiding his faithful flock, he passed to the Lord for eternal life on January 30, 1108. He had been a bishop for thirteen years. He was buried with honor in a chapel of the great Church of the Holy Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna. The body of Blessed Nikita remained hidden in the tomb for four hundred and fifty years, and then in 1558, during the reign of the pious Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, autocrat of all Russia, under Metropolitan Macarius and Archbishop Theodosius of Novgorod, the relics of Saint Nikita were found whole and completely unharmed . To this day, they continue to heal those who come to them with faith. Glory to our God, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Dmitrij_Rostovskij/zhitija-svjatykh/108