Blessed Nicetas of Constantinople (XII)

Blessed Nicetas lived in Constantinople and served as chartularius (keeper of church records). The blessed one’s holy life was revealed by an unusual incident. Two friends, a certain presbyter and the deacon Sozon, quarrelled. The presbyter died, and the deacon grieved greatly that they had not managed to be reconciled. Tormented by his conscience, Sozon confessed his sin to a great desert elder. The ascetic gave him a letter and told him to hand it to the man he would meet at midnight by the church of Hagia Sophia. This turned out to be Saint Nicetas, the chartularius. When he read the letter, the blessed one wept and said: I am being given a task beyond my strength, but through the holy desert-dweller’s prayer I shall try to carry it out. He knelt before the doors of the church and cried out fervently: “Open unto us the door of mercy, O Lord,” and the doors opened. Nicetas left the deacon on the threshold, and himself stood in prayer, and during the prayer he shone with a wonderful light. Then they left the church, and the doors closed. When they drew near to the church of the Mother of God at Blachernae, through Saint Nicetas’s prayer the doors opened before them again, the church was lit up, and from the sanctuary came presbyters in two rows, among whom Sozon recognised his departed friend. Saint Nicetas said quietly: “Father, speak with thy brother and put away the enmity between you!” Thus the blessed one loosed the sin of both the living and the departed.