This blessed captive, Nikon, came from a noble lineage in Kyiv. Having joined the Pechersk Monastery, he first submitted his mind and whole being to obedience to Christ and became an accomplished monk. Later, when the impious Polovtsians invaded, they captured him along with Saint Eustratius of the Caves and took them from the monastery to their land, where Nikon was held in chains.

A Christ’s man from Kyiv came to ransom the captives. However, Blessed Nikon refused, as the Christ’s man assumed, because he had wealthy relatives in Kyiv and wished to be redeemed by them. The Christ’s man, having ransomed many others, returned home and told of the blessed one. Hearing this, Nikon’s relatives came with a substantial ransom to free him. But Blessed Nikon said to them, “Do not waste your possessions in vain. If the Lord had willed me to be free, He would not have delivered me into the hands of these godless people. He Himself delivers into captivity those whom He wills. Shall we accept good from the hand of the Lord, and shall we not accept evil?” (Job 2:10). His relatives rebuked him and returned home with their wealth.

Then, the one who had taken Blessed Nikon captive, along with the other Polovtsians, seeing their hopes unfulfilled, began to torture the servant of God cruelly.

For three years, they tormented the blessed one daily: binding him, laying his shackled hands and feet on fire, cutting his legs, and starving him for one, two, or three days at a time. In the summer, they exposed him to the scorching sun; in the winter, they cast him into the frost and snow. The godless Polovtsians did this to force him to ransom himself. But Blessed Nikon thanked God for everything, praying to Him unceasingly, and said to his tormentors: “Christ will redeem me from your hands without payment, as I have already been told. My brother Eustratius, whom you sold to the Jews for crucifixion, has appeared to me. They will be condemned for him with their fathers, who said, ‘His blood be on us and on our children’ (Matt. 27:25). And you, wretches, will be tormented with Judas, who sold the Lord to the Cross. The one who appeared to me said, ‘In three days, you will be in the monastery, through the prayers of Saints Anthony and Theodosius and the other venerable fathers of the Caves.’”

Hearing this, the Polovtsian who had taken him captive thought Nikon intended to escape. He cut the tendons of Nikon’s knees to prevent his flight and kept him under close guard. Yet on the third day, at the sixth hour, as all sat armed around him, the blessed captive suddenly became invisible. Those guarding him only heard a voice saying, “Praise the Lord from the heavens” (Ps. 148:1).

Thus, the saint was invisibly transported to the Pechersk Church of the Most Holy Theotokos during the chanting of the communion hymn at the Divine Liturgy. All the brethren gathered, asking him, “How did you come here?” At first, he wished to conceal the great miracle, but seeing him still bound in heavy chains, wounded, and bloodied, they pressed him to tell the truth. Finally, against his will, he revealed what had happened.

He did not wish to remove the iron from his hands and feet. But the abbot said to him, “Brother if the Lord had willed for you to endure further, He would not have delivered you from captivity. Now obey our will.” Thus, the iron was removed from him and repurposed for the needs of the altar.

Many days later, after peace was made with the Polovtsians, the Polovtsian who had held Blessed Nikon captive came to Kyiv and entered the Pechersk Monastery. Recognising his former captive, Blessed Nikon, he recounted everything in detail to the abbot and brethren. Stricken by this, he did not return home but was baptised and became a monk, along with other Polovtsians of his tribe who had come to Kyiv. Together, they completed their lives in repentance at the Pechersk Monastery, serving their former captive, Blessed Nikon.

Many other wondrous miracles were worked through this blessed and holy man Nikon, among which we recall the following.

While still in captivity, the other prisoners once fell gravely ill from hunger and hardship, nearing death. The blessed one, sharing their bonds, commanded them not to partake of unclean food and, through his prayer, healed them all and helped them escape captivity unseen.

While the saint was still in captivity, the Polovtsian who had taken him fell seriously ill and, near death, commanded his wives and children to crucify the captive monk Nikon over his grave. But the blessed captive, foreseeing in spirit that the Polovtsian would later repent, prayed for and healed him. Thus, he saved himself from a bitter bodily death and the Polovtsian from both physical and spiritual death.

In his emaciation, this captive burned with the fire of God’s love, shining with good deeds pleasing to God.

Finally, he was freed from his bodily chains. For the fading he endured in this life, he received the unfading incorruption of his body after death. To this day, his relics rest incorrupt in the Near Caves. In spirit, he entered the incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading inheritance prepared for him in heaven at the source of eternal life, receiving the unfading crown of glory.

At present, the relics of Venerable Nikon the Dry rest in the Near Caves. On a 1638 map, he is mentioned as “Saint Nikon, the monk taken captive by the Polovtsians and grievously mutilated.” In 1661 and 1703, he was recorded as “Nikon the Martyr,” and in 1795 and the 19th century, he was known as Venerable Nikon the Dry.

The separate commemoration of Venerable Nikon takes place on December 24 (December 11, Old Style).