Saint Nikon the Metanoeite

Saint Nikon the Metanoeite was born around 930, of Greek origin, likely in Pontus in northeastern Asia Minor or possibly in Argos. As a young man he entered the monastery of Khrysopetro, where for twelve years he embraced a rigorous life of prayer, fasting, and penance. Recognizing both his zeal and his gifts, his abbot sent him out to serve as a missionary preacher. For three years Nikon traveled through Asia Minor calling people to conversion. After the Byzantine reconquest of Crete in 961, he devoted himself to restoring the Christian faith there, especially among those who had been pressured into Islam and among communities whose churches and traditions had fallen into ruin. His constant appeal—“Repent!”—became so characteristic that it earned him the name Metanoeite. After years of labor on Crete, Nikon preached across Greece and finally in the Peloponnese, where tradition credits him with deliverance from plague, many conversions, and the founding of churches and a monastery in Sparta. He died on November 26, 998, and is venerated as the patron saint of Sparta. His feast day is November 26.