A brother at the monastery in Sketis committed a fault and a council was
called. They invited Abba Moses but he refused to go. "Come, for everyone is
waiting for you." So he got up and went. He took a sack with a hole in it, filled
it with sand, and carried it on his shoulder even as the sand began to pour
out behind him. "What is this father," said the monks coming out to greet him. The
old man replied, "My sins run out behind me and I do not see them and today I am
coming to judge the errors of another." When they heard his words they said no
more to the brother but forgave him.
In the early 4th-century the Egyptian desert witnessed the age of the Desert
Fathers where thousands of anchorites Hermits and monks sojourned into the
wilderness seeking silence and communion with God. Among them came an unlikely man
whose soul was so deeply stained by sin that he seemed beyond redemption. His
name was Moses and he was called the Ethiopian from the Greek word "ethiops"
meaning burnt face ... the term used by
ancient to denote the dark skinned population from Nubia and further south below the
Sahara. We first learn of Moses serving as a young slave to a city official in
Alexandria. It is said that Moses stole from his owner and was either disowned
or escaped. Whether due to his own demeanor or
because the conditions left him few options, Moses entered the wastelands to
become a bandit. His gang plundered the region, gaining renown for their days
of violence and nights of drunkenness and debauchery. Now free from being a
slave to men, Moses remained in bondage to his passions for many years.
Even the most innocent dare not get in his way such as the shepherd who's
barking dog prevented a theft. The furious Moses swam across the Nile with
his sword and, not finding the Shepherd, instead butchered the rams,
ate the meat, and sold their skins for wine,
thus crippling the flocks future. With such activity Moses seemed headed to an
early death. Then one day, succumbing to pangs of
conscience or maybe just to hide away, he found himself in Sketis, the monastic
center in Wadi el Natrun. One can imagine the serene countenance of the
monks greatly impressing him and perhaps in the mirror of such goodness he
finally saw the darkness of his own soul. He wept bitter tears and begged to stay
so that he could repent. In time, the fathers accepted him. Abba Makarios the
Great saw him for confession and baptized him and the Abbot Isadore gave
him counsel. "Moses pray, keep watch, and remain in your cell." Thus began the long
struggle in the solitude and overwhelming silence of his cell. Moses
confronted memories and battled demons who presented alluring images and
stirred his as yet untamed nature. With the same effort and force he gave to
sinful ways he now applied in full to the spiritual life. Yet progress was slow
and a discouraged Moses thought about leaving.
Then early one morning Abba Isidore took Moses to watch the rising sun and said,
"See, the light only gradually drives away the darkness. So too with the soul. Do not
be grieved, we're at the start and the demons thus attack you with force
seeking out your old habits. For just as a dog who eats from a butcher's shop
will leave once the shop is closed so too will the demons get discouraged if
you do not return to your former ways.
Encouraged, Moses intensified his struggle, eating only 12 ounces of bread
and drinking a draught of water per day in an effort to quiet the stirring
passions. In time he made progress. One day, four robbers broke into his cell.
Moses caught and carried them to the church where he dropped them before the
fathers and said, "It is not Christian for me to harm these men. What would you like
to do?" The robbers, now recognizing their former leader and marveling at his mercy,
repented of their ways and entered the monastic life. During the day,
Moses wove baskets and prayed to Jesus for mercy in a search for stillness and
humility.
One day he appeared at a council. The Fathers, seeking to test him said, "Why
does this black man come among us?" When the council ended a father asked Moses
"Did that not grieve you at all?" He replied, "I was grieved but I kept silence."
Often the demon of fornication would drive him from his cell to which Isadore
would say, "Go back!" ... "Abba I cannot," replied Moses. Isadore took Moses to
the roof and said, "Look towards the west." In the west, Moses saw hordes of demons
flying about and preparing for battle.
"Look towards the east." In the east Moses saw a greater number of holy angels
shining with glory. "See, those in the east are sent by the Lord to help us. Those
who are with us are more than those who are against us." This wonder filled Moses with
courage. But as he won the day the demons attacked him through dreams at night. So
he went six years with little sleep but rather spent the night with arms
upraised in prayer. Yet he still could not master the thing. Perhaps in physical
labor, he thought ... walking many miles each night to fetch water for his fellow
monks. He found relief until an exasperated demon gave him such a blow
as to render him unconscious. After a year of recovery Isadore said, "Moses,
stop struggling with the demons and do not provoke them" ... "I will never stop
until they stop appearing," he replied. In the name of Jesus Christ your dreams
have ceased. Come, receive Holy Communion with confidence so that you shall be
free of all impurity of both flesh and the spirit. For you must not boast within
yourself saying I have overcome the demons. For it was for your benefit that
they fought so greatly against you." Moses had quickly escaped the slavery of men
in his youth but only after many years of intense spiritual warfare had he
gained freedom from the passions.
Through this struggle he became a fount of wisdom from which pilgrims and other
monks came away refreshed through his simple words and actions. Like the young
brother who visited the elder and asked for a word that might save him.
Moses replied, "Go, sit in your cell and your cell will teach you everything."
Even today we read of his wisdom in the sayings of the Desert Fathers.
"Weep and implore the goodness of God to come to your aid and you will obtain
peace if you pray with discernment." ... "If a man's deeds are not in harmony with his
prayer he labor's in vain." ... "When someone is occupied with his own faults he does
not see those of his neighbor." Years later the archbishop decided to ordain
Moses and as he placed the effod on him he said, "See Abba Moses, now you are
entirely white." Moses replied, "It is true of the outside Lord and father but what
about him who sees the inside."
The archbishop, wishing to test him, said to the Fathers, "When Abba Moses comes
into the sanctuary, drive him out and see what he says." When Moses entered, the
Father scorned him and said, "Get out black man." Moses left and said to himself,
"They have acted rightly concerning you. For you are hardly a man and you wish to
serve at the altar amongst the angels."
One day Moses went with some elders to see Makarios the Great who said to them,
"I see among you one to whom belongs the crown of martyrdom." Moses answered, "It is
probably me. For it is written, "For all who take the sword will perish by the
sword.'" Makarios advised Moses to seek greater silence in Petra.
He spent his final years their, gathering disciples who benefited from
his guidance and wisdom. In AD 405, word came that barbarians were approaching. In a
final act of non-violence Moses offered no resistance and thus
obtained the crown of martyrdom. We still remember him today, this once
robber turned monk who offers us a shining example of how even the most
foul and dastardly of sinners can, through repentance and asceticism,
so purify his heart as to find freedom from the passions and gain entrance into
the Kingdom of God. Abba Moses please pray for us!
Mme possessive carefully
many more
baby
forty