St. Niceta of Remesiana

St. Niceta of Remesiana was bishop of Remesiana, a town in the region of Dacia in the Balkans, in present-day Serbia, in the later fourth and early fifth century. He was a zealous missionary bishop who labored to bring the Gospel to the still largely pagan and semi-barbarian peoples along the Danube frontier, and he was praised for this work by his friend the poet St. Paulinus of Nola, who addressed two poems to him.

A writer of instruction for converts and catechumens, he composed works on the faith, the creed, and the Christian life, and he wrote notably in defense of the practice of singing hymns and psalms in worship. For this reason, and by a strong tradition, he has often been credited with the composition of the great hymn of praise the Te Deum, "We praise thee, O God," though the authorship of that hymn is not certain and remains debated among scholars. He died about 414, and is venerated as a saint, his memory kept on 22 June.