Saint Moses the Strong

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At the beginning of the Christian Church we, for a very long time, were persecuted and had to live and evangelize quietly in order to keep the faith alive. We did not lie about our faith, no, but we could not advertise our faith either or else all our Christian brethren would be killed and we would lose the opportunity to save the souls around us. Yes, all these Christians were willing to die for their faith if they were found out, but they also remained hidden in order to carry out the mission handed onto them in winning souls.

After many years of persecution the faith was eventually made legal in Rome - which did not necessarily make it protected from persecution, but it did mean that the Roman government would no longer attempt to eradicate the religion. Many changes came with this, and we see Roman culture shift with the influence of Christians now able to live their faith out in the open. There were also changes within the lives of Christians as well, which is what I wish to tell you about now.

Saint Moses the Strong, also known as Moses the Black, was a 4th-century Egyptian ascetic and martyr, also one of the many Desert Fathers. He was born around 330 AD and lived a life of violence and crime as a slave, which later escalated to him becoming the leader of a gang of robbers. Despite the brutal reputation he had gained he came to realize that he needed God, the Christian God, and repented of his ways and dedicated his life to prayer. His story before finding his faith is not what we will be speaking about today, but rather instead I wish to share some of what I think are the most impactful insights from him. Much of this article will be sharing the stories of him rather than me writing.

A final thing before going on, I should explain more about who the Desert Fathers are. Essentially, they are the precursors to the monks, religious orders, and those consecrating themselves to the Lord. These men (and some women) left the life of the city since they saw it as a distraction from God and wished to instead dedicate all of their time to prayer and devotion to God. They lived life disavowing the material goods and comforts enjoyed by others and lived on as little as they could in the desert wilderness in solitude. Over time, especially after Christianity was made legal, others saw the appeal in this and decided to join these good men and women, which came to be very frustrating for these people who had sought out solitude. Communities came to be built up around these hopeful-hermits, and it is from these followers which we get many of the stories for the Desert Fathers.

While Moses was carrying out his daily activities he was invited to a council to address a brother who had committed a wrong bad enough that it needed to be dealt with. Moses declined to come to the council. A priest then sent another in the community to go and retrieve Moses, saying, "Come, for everyone is waiting for you." So Moses stopped what he was doing. One account says that he took a leaking jug filled it with water and carried it with him, while another says he took basket and filled it with sand and then poked a hole into it so that it would start leaking. As he approached the council he was met by the others already present and asked Moses, "What is the meaning of this, Father?" Then the old man said to them, "My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the errors of another." When the others heard this, they said no more to the brother who had committed wrongdoing but forgave him and the council was canceled.

When St. Moses was asked why he was not grieved by the sinfulness of others, he responded "When one has a corpse in their own house, they do not grieve over the corpse in the home of another."

Moses said that "If the monk does not think in his heart that he is a sinner, God will not hear him." A brother asked, "What does that mean, to think in his heart that he is a sinner?" Then Moses said, "When someone is occupied with his own faults, he does not see those of his neighbor."

"You fast, but Satan does not eat. You labor fervently, but Satan never sleeps. The only dimension with which you can outperform Satan is by acquiring humility, for Satan has no humility."

"If a man’s deeds are not in harmony with his prayer, he labors in vain."

"Humility of heart precedes all virtues, and the desire of the belly is the source of all passions. Pride is the basis of all vices and love is the origin of all goodness."

At the end of his life Moses was granted knowledge of his death and one day he told his disciples that they must flee for the barbarians were going to attack their monastery. They believed him but tried to convince him to also flee with them. Moses refused, and he said that he must die by violence for, at one time, he himself committed violence and, according to Matthew 26:52 “For all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” this is what was due to him. He remained there with six brethren and the barbarians came and slew each of these men. One of the men who had fled into hiding remained hidden nearby and later reported to the other monks that he saw seven shining wreaths, the crowns of martyrs, descend upon the seven martyrs as they were killed.

St. Moses lived a terrible life before he became a Christian, and then he was tormented by the Enemy after he dedicated his life to Christ. Yet he persevered. Moses should be an inspiration to us all, and his wise words should be taken to heart. What this man realized many centuries ago has been forgotten by many of use now, and we are due to rediscover it.

Written for VME Catholic, by Ethan Hall