Nicetas of Remesiana
Nicetas von Remesiana (* 4th century ; † after 414 ) was Bishop of Remesiana in Moesia superior (today southeast Serbia ) and a Latin theological writer and hymn poet. He is considered one of the first heralds of Christianity in the region and is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches .
Life
The biographical evidence is sparse and uncertain, as the name Nicetas / Niketas was common and also used in different spellings. The mentions of Gennadius of Marseille ( De viris illustribus ) and of Paulinus of Nola , with whom Nicetas was friends, are reliable . Paulinus reports of two visits by Nicetas to him and praises him as a powerful hymn poet and promoter of church singing. However, nothing of these poetic works has survived - except for the Te Deum , in case it comes from Nicetas von Remesiana, as has been assumed by various researchers since the 1890s.
Nicetas and the Te Deum
The Te Deum, one of the most important prayers in the Latin liturgy , presumably originated in the 5th century, was handed down late with the author's information. The traditional attributions to the great church fathers Ambrosius and Augustine or to the hymn poet Hilarius are understandable . Some Te Deum manuscripts - the oldest of them from the 10th century - also name a Nicetas / Nicetus / Nicetius as the author. This caused the patristician Germain Morin OSB to accept the authorship of Nicetas von Remesiana, which he tried to underpin with linguistic parallels to the undoubtedly genuine works of Nicetas. His thesis met with approval from important experts, but also rejection as a mere assumption. Most opponents of the Nicetas attribution see the Te Deum as a grown prayer text without an individual author.
Fonts
- Competentibus ad baptismum instructionis libelli VI (six books on the instruction of baptismal applicants, incomplete; with a historically important explanation of the Apostolicum )
- Treatises De ratione fidei and De Spiritus Sancti potentia (probably belonging to the 3rd book of the Libelli )
- Treatise De diversis appellationibus Jesu Christo convenientibus
- Homilies De psalmodiae bono and De vigiliis
- Ad lapsam virginem (not received)
literature
- Berthold Altaner , Alfred Stuiber : Patrologie , Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1978, p. 391
- Alina Soroceanu: Niceta von Remisiana Pastoral Care and Church Politics in the Late Antique Lower Danube Region, Frankfurt a. M. 2013
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gottfried Schramm : A New Approach to Albanian History ( Memento of October 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (1994)
- ↑ "Niceas Romatianae civitatis episcopus"
- ↑ Ernst Kähler - Altaner / Stuiber: "without fundamental reasons"
- ↑ Article Te Deum , TRE 33, Berlin / New York 2002, p. 24
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Nicetas of Remesiana |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Nicetas Remesianensis |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | early church bishop and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | after 414 |