MOSES THE BLACK

Again Magazine June 1994 Page 28/30

MOSES THE BLACK
From Sinner To Ascetic

A.D. 330 to 405

One of the most remarkable sto­ries recorded about the

Fathers of the Desert is that of Saint Moses. Moses was by
race an Ethiopian and his skin was black. He was the slave of
an Egyptian official in high authority. Because of the general
immo­rality and evil deeds of his life, especially his thievery,
Moses was driven out of his master’s house. It is said that
Moses even

went so far as to commit murder, which explains his final

martyrdom. Most slaves in those days would have been killed
for disobedience or trouble to their masters; but God had
other plans for Moses.

Bishop Palladius of Helenopolis, who was alive at the time of

Saint Moses, wrote of his life. As was done in the stories
about King David of old, Palladius re­corded some of the
wicked acts of Saint Moses in order to show forth the
beautiful and holy fruit of his repentance.

Moses was a man of huge stature and was famous for his
gang of seventy-five thieves. Because of his great physical
strength and courage, the robbers chose Moses to be their
leader. This gang of thieves became a social menace and a
living terror to the community they lived in.

There is one well-known story in par­ticular that demonstrates

the wild reck­lessness and incredible human strength Moses
displayed in his youth. He terror­ized his victims, especially a
particular man who was a shepherd by trade. Some­how, the
shepherd’s dog spoiled a certain evil scheme of Moses and
his gang by its continual barking. Moses was extremely angry
at this interference and sought re­venge against the dog’s
master. Moses set out to steal the man’s sheep and do vio­‐
lence against the shepherd himself.

To get to the shepherd, Moses had to cross the longest river

in the world, the crocodile-infested Nile, which ran through his
homeland of Ethiopia all the way through Egypt to the
Mediterranean Sea. Someone who knew of the problem be­‐
tween Moses and the shepherd saw Moses swimming across
the river with a sword in his teeth and his clothes piled on top
of his head. This man ran and told the shepherd, who wasted
no time digging a hole in the side of the riverbank, where he
covered himself with sand to hide from his stalker.

Moses arrived and found the shepherd’s flock but could not
find the shepherd. Finally, in a fit of anger, he chose four of the
best rams (males) from the man’s sheep and killed them.
Then he tied them together with a rope and towed the four
rams back across the Nile, along with his sword and clothes.
Arriv­ing at a small village on the opposite shore, Moses
skinned and flayed the four rams, selecting the choice
portions of meat for himself. He sold the remaining meat and
skins for money to buy wine. Having drunk the wine, Moses
proceeded to walk fifty miles to return to his com­panions. One
writer comments, “That was the sort of man Moses was.”

However, the story of his life con­tinues. One morning while

Moses was involved in doing something evil, some­thing
happened which caused him to come to his senses.
Something, we don’t know what, caused Moses to repent of
his evil deeds. Some believe this happened while Moses was
hiding out in a monas­tery. Others, such as Bishop Palladius,
say Moses fled to the monastery because he had already
repented.
Whatever happened, Moses from that time on was found
fervently embracing the work of repentance at the monastery
of Petra in the desert at Scete. His efforts in the ascetic
struggle were so severe that the devil himself, who had
controlled Moses in his youth, would stand before him in
visible form and look upon him.

Once four thieves came to Moses’ cell to rob him, not knowing
who he was. At that time Moses had been fasting for seven
days and had eaten nothing. Never­theless, he overpowered
the thieves, tied them together with ropes, and slung them
across his back like a bag of chopped straw. He then brought
them to the church and dumped them on the floor of the
sanctuary, saying to the astonished monks present. “Since I
can no longer do any harm to any man, what do you command
me to do with these who came to slay me?”

Then he turned to his attackers, say­ing. “I indeed am Moses

who was for­merly the leader of the gang of thieves.” Startled,
realizing who this man was, the robbers began to praise and
glorify God; and when they saw the sincerity of his
repentance, they too committed them­selves with an oath to
cast off their evil way of life, saying, “Let us also embrace the
life of repentance, so that we may become worthy of the
forgiveness of sins, even as he also is worthy.”

The truth is that Moses did not be­lieve that he himself was
worthy. He did not become well-behaved in a day. While he
was fasting and during the time of prayer and silent
contemplation, the devil would bring back to Moses the
memories of his past life and sinful habits, and would tempt
him severely to fall away from his covenant with the Lord. In
fact, Moses fell into dark despair over the seeming
impossibility of overcoming his violent passions.

Moses went to his old abbot, Saint Isidore the Great, for
spiritual direction. He told the abbot about the war he was
having with his body. Hearing this, Saint Isidore took Moses
up to the roof of a house in the middle of the night to wait for
the sun to appear. “See!” he said, “the light only gradually
drives away the darkness. So it is with the soul.”

The wise old abbot would say to Moses, “Don’t get too
distressed, for these temptations are the beginning of the
birth pangs, and they come upon you seeking to receive
something from you, even as a dog comes continually to the
cook: but if a man doesn’t give him any­thing, the dog will not
go there again. And so it is also with you, for if you will
continue in fasting, and in prayer, and in silent contemplation,
the devil will himself fall into despair and will flee from you.”

Moses drew away in solitude to his own cell, where he gave

himself com­pletely to the ascetic life. From that time Moses
was diligent in his struggle for spiritual growth and perfect
subjection of the passions. He ate only ten ounces of dry
bread daily when he was working with his hands. In addition,
Moses would recite fifty prayers each day in their en­tirety.

But even with this ascetic effort over the bodily passions, he
was still plagued by evil dreams. Moses would cry, “What shall
I do? For thoughts of lust arise from my former habits and
attack me.” Then Isidore would answer, saying, “These lead
you into error because you have not turned away your heart
from the image or likeness of them. But give your heart to
watching and careful prayer, and you will be free from them.”

Now when Moses had heard this di­rection, he went to his cell
and made a covenant with God that he would neither sleep
nor bend his knees during the whole night. Moses lived in his
cell for seven years, and remained standing the whole of each
night with his eyes open. Besides this, he set for himself other
ascetic labors. He would go out at night and visit the cells of
old monks, taking their water skins and filling them with water,
because their cells were two to five miles from the nearest
water.
One night when Moses was bending over a spring to fill water
skins, a demon hit him a terrible blow across his legs with a
stick, leaving him half dead by the spring. Saint Isidore sent
the brethren to carry Moses back to the church of the Scete,
where he lay ill for a long time. Moses understood what had
happened to him. He never fully recovered from that illness,
and never again enjoyed the health of body which he had
formerly possessed.

After six years of painful striving. Saint Isidore came to him

and said, “Give yourself rest, O Moses, and don’t worry
yourself against the devils, and don’t seek to attack them:
there is moderation in everything, even in the works of ascetic
life.”

Then Moses answered him. “I believe in God, in whom I have

placed my hope, that being armed against the devils, I must
not cease to wage war with them until they depart from me.”

To this Abba Isidore responded, “In the Name of Jesus Christ,

from this time forward the devils will cease from you. Draw
near then and participate in the Holy Mysteries, and you shall
be free from all impurity, both of the flesh and of the spirit: for
you shall not boast within yourself and say. ‘I have over­come
the devils,’ for it was for your benefit that they have waxed
strong against you.”

So Moses went back again to his cell, and after two months
Saint Isidore came to him and asked how he was doing.
Moses said to Isidore, “I never see any­thing now which is
hateful to me.”

Moses was held worthy of the gift of divine grace to chase

away the devils from many other people. Theophilus, Arch­‐
bishop of Alexandria, heard of his virtues and ordained him
priest in his old age. Moses founded a monastery on his own
and had seventy-five disciples. When he was a thief and
robber he had seventy-five followers who were just like him—
and these same men became his disciples, and were
perfected.

Moses foresaw his own death. One day when the brethren
were sitting with Abba Moses, he said to them. “Behold, the
barbarians are coming today to Scete: you must rise up and
flee.” And they said to him. “Will you not flee also, Father?” He
said to them, “I have been expecting this day to come for
many years, so that the command of our Redeemer may be
ful­filled who said. ‘All who take the sword will perish by the
sword’ “ (Matthew 26:52). And they said to him. “We will not
flee, but will die with you.” He said to them. “This is not my
concern, but it is your own desire. Let every man look after
himself in the place where he dwells.”

There were seven brothers with him, and after a little while he
said to them. “Behold, the barbarians have come near the
door.” And the barbarians entered and murdered Moses and
six of the brothers. One of the brothers had hidden for fear
behind the palm leaves, and he saw seven shining crowns
come down and place themselves on the heads of those who
had been slain.

Moses was seventy-five years old when he died. He was

buried at the Monas­tery called Dais al Baranius in A.D. 405.

Compiled and paraphrased from:

The Prologue from Ochrid;

Butlers Lives of the Saints. Vol. II;

The Paradise of the Holy Fathers. Vol. 1;

and The writings of Monk Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis.

A.D. 430
Spiritual Counsels Of Saint Moses

Silence gives birth to endeavor, endeavor gives birth to

mourning, mourning to fear, fear

to humility, humility to the opening of the eyes, opening of the

eyes to love, and love makes the soul sound and passionless
and then a man realizes that he is not far from God.

A certain brother went to Abba Moses in Scete, and asked him

to speak a word; and the old man said to him, “Go away and
sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.”

Abba Moses used to say, “Secret withdrawal from work makes

the mind dark, but for a man to endure and to persevere in his
works lightens the mind in our Lord, and it strengthens and
fortifies the soul.”

A certain brother committed an offense in Scete, the camp of

the monks, and when a congregation was assembled on this
matter, they sent after Abba Moses, but he refused to come;
then they sent the priest of the church to him, saying, “Come,
for all the people are expecting you.” And he rose up and
came, and he took a basket with a hole in it and filled it with
sand, and carried it upon his shoulders, and those who went
out to meet him, said to him, “What does this mean, O father?”
And he said to them, “The sands are my sins which are
running down behind me and I cannot see them, and I, even I,
have come this day to judge shortcomings which are not
mine.” Ad when they heard this, they set free that brother and
said nothing further to him.

Abba Moses said to Abba Poemen, “It is better for a man to

put himself to death rather than his neighbor, and he should
not condemn him in anything. It is good for a man to die unto
every work which is evil, and he should not trouble a man
before his departure from the body. If a man does not put
himself in the attitude of a sinner, his prayer will not be heard
before God.” A brother asked, “What is a sinner’s soul?” And
the old man said, “Everyone who bears his own sins, not
considering the sins of his neighbor.” The old man also said to
him, “If works do not correspond to prayer, he who prays
labors in vain.” And a brother asked, “What is the equality of
works with prayer?” The old man said to him, “He who prays
that he may receive remission of sins must not from that time
on be negligent, for if a man gives up his own will, he will be
accepted by God rightly.”

And Abba Moses said, “Bear disgrace and affliction in the

Name of Jesus with humility and a troubled heart; and show
Him your weakness, and He will become to you might.”