From Robber to Saint: the Life Story of St. Moses the Black
St. Moses
is a perfect example, like St. Mary of Egypt, that sometimes the greatest
sinners can become the greatest saints, by means of deep and sincere
repentance. Moses had been a murderer, a
thief, and a very violent person. Therefore, St. Moses is a marvelous model for
us of the power of repentance and of God’s forgiveness, especially for those
who might feel that they are too sinful to be reconciled to God and His Holy
Church, because they have strayed and fallen into sin. The “righteous” can be
further from God than the sinner, because the “righteous,” like the pharisee and
the elder son of Jesus’ parables, do not see their sins, and therefore are
filled with pride instead of humility. In contrast, like Jesus’ prodigal son
and tax-collector, the great sinner who
repents can grow ever closer to God by means of his continued sincere
repentance and consequent humility and self-abasement. St. Moses is just such a
person.
St. Moses
lived in Egypt during the fourth century. He was a very dark-skinned Ethiopian,
and thus is also called St. Moses the Black. In his youth he was a slave of a
high-ranking man, but after Moses committed a murder, his master banished him.
Filled with much anger and bitterness, Moses joined a band of thieves who
attacked, robbed and murdered travelers in the Egyptian desert. His band of
brigands chose Moses as their leader because of his enormous physical strength
and readiness to sin. People were afraid at the mere mention of his name.
After a
number of years of this sinful life, by the grace of God, Moses repented,
abandoned his band of robbers and went to one of the desert monasteries. He had
to weep and beg for a long time before the brethren believed he was sincere,
and finally they accepted him. He wept bitter tears of repentance for his
sinful life, and became very obedient to the abbot, his spiritual father and
confessor, Abba (Father) Isidore, a wise and experienced spiritual guide. After
a while, Moses withdrew to a solitary cell, where he prayed, fasted, and
continued to struggle against the passions and the violent attacks of demons,
with the guidance of Abba Isidore, who taught him how to pray all night and to
struggle against the demons. His long struggle with the passions and demons was
necessary in order to become completely cleansed of his former sins. In his
battle between the legions of demons and angels, Abba Isidore assured Moses
that the angels would prevail.
One time
four robbers of his former band attacked him in his solitary cell, not
realizing who he was. Having lost none of his great physical strength, Moses tied
them up, threw them over his shoulder, and brought them to the monastery, where
the elders said to release them. Upon learning that this was Moses, their
former ringleader, and that he had dealt with them kindly, they followed his
example, repented and also became monks. When the rest of the band of thieves
learned what happened, they too abandoned their life of sin and became fervent
monks.
Intensifying
his spiritual efforts, St. Moses started carrying water every night from the
well to each of the brothers, especially for the Elders, who lived far from the
well, and for whom it was difficult to carry water. Once, while leaning over the well, the demons
took revenge for Moses’ victory over them, and delivered such a severe blow to
Moses’ back, that he fell unconscious, and for an entire year he lay crippled
in his cell. After this, he was healed and was freed from his passions, and received
from the Lord power over demons.
As the
years went on, and word about St. Moses spread, people started coming to see
him, and Moses left his cell to hide from visitors. Along the way he met the
servants of the local governor who were sent to find the saintly desert
dweller. Moses told them, “go no further to see this false and unworthy monk.”
When the servants returned to the governor at the monastery, they learned that
they had encountered St. Moses himself.
After
many years of monastic struggles, St. Moses was ordained deacon. In his
humility, he believed himself unworthy of this office. Once, wishing to test
him, the bishop told the clergy to insult and ridicule him as an unworthy
Ethiopian, and to drive him out of the altar. The humble monk accepted the
abuse. After this test, the bishop then ordained St. Moses as a priest. He was
sixty years old at this time. For another fifteen years he continued his
monastic labors, and about 75 disciples gathered around the saintly Elder, who
had been granted by the Lord the gifts of wisdom, foresight, and power over
demons. When he was 75, he warned his monks that soon brigands would attack
their small monastery (skete) and murder everyone. He begged his monks to
leave, but he himself refused to leave, because he believed the time had come
for the Lord’s words to be fulfilled: “All who take up the sword shall perish
by the sword” (Mt. 26:52). Seven brethren stayed with their Abba, one of whom hid when
attacked, and lived to tell how the robbers killed St. Moses and the other six
monks. It was about the year 400.
By Sister Ioanna, St. Innocent Monastic
Community,
Redford, MI
Source: https://www.stinnocentchurch.com/life_of_st_moses_the_black.html
