Saint Nilus of Ancyra

Nilus lived in the late 4th and early 5th centuries and, according to ancient sources, was a disciple of Saint John Chrysostom in Constantinople. He became a monk and abbot near Ancyra (today's Ankara, Turkey) and wrote many letters and treatises on prayer, humility and the monastic life, which were widely read in both East and West. He defended Chrysostom when he was exiled and died around 430. For centuries he was confused with another Nilus said to have lived on Mount Sinai, so some stories told of him belong to that later tradition.

Writings on prayer long circulated under his name and were included in the Philokalia, the great Eastern anthology of prayer, although scholars now attribute the famous treatise On Prayer to Evagrius Ponticus.