EUCHITES or EUCHITÆ, a sect of ancient heretics, who were first formed into a religious body towards the end of the fourth century, though their doctrine and discipline existed in Syria, Egypt, and other eastern countries, before the birth of Christ. They were so called because they prayed without ceasing, imagining that prayer alone was sufficient to save them. They rested chiefly on the injunction of St Paul, Pray without ceasing. The name is formed from the Greek, ευχη, prayer, whence ευχηται, the same with the Latin preccatores. They were also called Enthusiasts and Messalians, terms denoting the same thing as Euchites.