The Old Life
An idol worshipper. A highway robber. A thief, a murderer.
A lover of this passing world.
The Thirst
Is there a God, great and awesome?
“My heart yearns for Him.”
Moses the thirsty heard of our fathers the monks, the dwellers of Shiheet.
Abba Isidore
He took the form of man; all heads bow to Him.
Our God is merciful — He accepts the repentant.
Give your life to Him. Abandon your past; at His gracious hands, repent.
The Confession
With tears and joy, with groaning and delight.
He offered a true repentance, revealing all his sins — openly, without turning back.
Entirely White
Axios — Worthy
He received the first mystery — by water, Spirit, and fire — removing all impurities.
Robed in white, he was told: you are white now, inside and out.
The Bag of Sand
My sins run behind me
A torn sack of sand upon his back — “my sins pour out behind me, and still I come to judge another?”
From Darkness to Light
The robber among the chosen ones
The murderer became righteous; the sinner, a chosen vessel.
A slave of desires became a father, teacher, comforter, and priest who wrote rules for the monks.
The Life · c. 332 – 407 AD
The Life of Anba Moses the Black
Anba Moses the Black (c. 332–407 AD): a slave and robber chief who repented at the hands of Sts. Isidore and Macarius the Great in the desert of Scetis, becoming a monk, priest, and father to five hundred brothers, and one of the Church's most famous emblems of repentance. Martyred by the Berbers with seven brothers; his body rests at El-Baramous Monastery.
The great saint Anba Moses the Black, known also as Anba Moses the Strong, is one of the most celebrated emblems of repentance in the history of the whole Church; for he was mighty in his wickedness before his repentance, then became mightier still in his asceticism and holiness, so that it was said of him that he truly took the kingdom of heaven by force, as the Gospel says: «The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force» (Matthew 11:12).
His origins and early life
He was born around 332 AD, most likely in Nubia in the far south of Egypt, and was called "the Black" for the darkness of his skin. In his early life he was a slave to the chief of a fire-worshipping tribe, but his master cast him out because of his many evils and his cruelty, fearing that his ways would spread among the rest of the slaves. He then went to serve another master, the chief of a sun-worshipping tribe; and when that master punished him harshly he fled and set about taking revenge on every master and rich man, and his heart grew harder still.
Moses joined a band of highway robbers, and they unanimously chose him as their chief because of his exceeding strength and might, until he came to be called "the beast of the mountain" and "the terror of the region." He was a powerful giant, given to excess in eating and in drinking wine, who killed and stole and worked evil, and no one could stand in his way or defy him. It is told that one day he wanted to get at a flock of sheep, and the shepherd set his dogs on him; so he leapt into the river with his sword in his mouth and swam a long distance until the shepherd fled in terror. Then he picked out the four best sheep, slaughtered them, carried them, and swam back the way he had come.
How he returned to God
Yet the call of goodness would sound within him from time to time, for he was not evil by nature. Much of the time he would gaze at the sun he worshipped and address it, saying: "O sun, if you are God, make yourself known to me," and then he would say: "And you, O God whom I do not know, make yourself known to me." One day he heard someone say to him: "The monks of Wadi El-Natrun know God; go to them and they will make Him known to you." He rose at once, girded on his sword, and came to the desert of Scetis.
There he met St. Isidore, the priest of Scetis and disciple of St. Macarius the Great. When Isidore saw him he was frightened by his appearance, but Moses reassured him, saying that he had come to them only that they might make God known to him, and he kept pleading with insistence and reverence: "I have heard that you are good, and I have come to you so that you may show me how to become good like you. I want to be with you, even though I have done great evils." So Isidore brought him to St. Macarius the Great, who exhorted him, taught him the faith, baptized him, received him as a monk, and settled him in the desert.
His repentance and struggle
Moses confessed his sins with deep contrition and abundant tears, and it is said that while Moses was confessing, St. Macarius saw a black tablet from which every sin he acknowledged was wiped away, so that when he had finished his confession the whole tablet had become white. Then St. Moses threw himself into many devotions surpassing the worship of many of the saints. The devil fought him with what had once ruled him — the love of eating and drinking and the lusts of the flesh — and he would tell St. Isidore of this, and Isidore would comfort him and teach him how to overcome the devil's wiles.
In his first years he was warred upon fiercely by thoughts, for his old crimes and shameful deeds would pass through his mind as he stood praying; and he would cast himself upon the ground and weep before God, crying out his famous cry: "O Lord, You know that I want to be saved, but the thoughts will not leave me." Little by little these wars subsided from him by the grace of Christ.
Such was the intensity of his asceticism and his love of serving that, when the elders of the monastery slept, he would go around their cells by night, take their jars, and fill them with water he carried from a well far from the monastery. After many years of struggle the devil envied him and struck him with an ulcer in his leg that crippled him and laid him low with sickness; and when he learned that it came from the devil's warfare, he increased his asceticism and his worship until his body became like burnt wood. Then the Lord looked upon his patience, healed him of his affliction, took away his pains, and the grace of God rested upon him.
His humility
Because he had experienced God's long-suffering toward him, he himself became a model of humility, long-suffering, and gentleness with sinners. Once a council of the fathers was convened in Scetis, and when Anba Moses entered and sat among them, one of them confronted him, saying: "Why does this Nubian come and sit in our midst?" He kept silent and made no answer; and when they asked him after the council had ended whether he had been angry, he said: "Truly I was troubled, but I said nothing."
It is told in the Paradise of the Desert Fathers that a brother sinned in Scetis, and the elders convened a council to judge him and sent for Anba Moses, but he refused to come. When they pressed him, he rose, took a basket full of holes, filled it with sand, carried it on his back, and came. When they went out to meet him and asked him what this meant, he said to them: "These are my sins pouring out behind me, and I do not look at them — and I have come today to judge the sins of another." When they heard this they said nothing to the brother, but forgave him.
His ordination as priest and his fatherhood
In time five hundred brothers gathered around him and he became a father to them, and they chose him to be ordained a priest. When he came before the Patriarch for his ordination, the Patriarch wished to test him and said to the elders: "Who brought this black man here? Drive him out." He obeyed and went out, saying to himself: "They have done well to you, O black of skin." But the Patriarch called him back and ordained him priest, and then said to him: "Moses, now you have become entirely white." The saint set down rules for the monks, and he left behind seventy disciples who enriched monastic life and thought after him. When a brother asked him what helps a monk in the hardships that befall him, he answered: "It is written: «God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble» (Psalms 46:1)."
His martyrdom
One day he went with some of the elders to St. Macarius the Great, who said to them: "I see among you one who has the crown of martyrdom." St. Moses answered him, saying: "Perhaps it is I, for it is written: «All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword» (Matthew 26:52)." And he himself would warn the monks again and again, saying: "If we keep the commandments of our fathers, I tell you in the name of the Lord that the Berbers will not come here; but if we do not keep the commandments of God, this place will be laid waste."
In the year 407 AD, at the time of the first Berber raid on the desert of Scetis, the saint was in his cell with some of the brothers, and he said to them: "Behold, the Berbers are coming to Scetis today; whoever among you wishes to flee, let him flee." They asked him: "And you, our father, why do you not flee as well?" He said: "I have been waiting for this day for many years, that the word of the Savior might be fulfilled." The Berbers entered the monastery and killed him together with seven brothers who were with him; he was about seventy-five years old.
One of the brothers was hiding behind a mat, and he saw angels descending from heaven with crowns in their hands, placing them on the heads of the martyrs; then he saw the angel of the Lord standing with a crown in his hand, waiting for him. So he rushed out of his hiding place and gave himself up to the Berbers, and they killed him also, and he received the crown of martyrdom with his brothers.
His holy body
After the Berbers had left the monastery, the fathers took the body of the saint and the bodies of the martyrs who were with him, shrouded them, and laid them in the church of the monastery. His body now rests, together with the body of his teacher St. Isidore, in a single shrine at the Monastery of the Holy Virgin "El-Baramous" in Wadi El-Natrun, and many wonders still flow from them to this day. The Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates his feast on the 24th day of the Coptic month of Baounah.
Consider then, beloved, the power of repentance and what it has wrought: it transformed an unbelieving slave who was a murderer, an adulterer, and a thief into a great father, a teacher, a comforter, and a priest who set down rules for the monks — a saint whose name is remembered at the altar in our prayers. May the blessing of his prayers be with us, and to our Lord be glory always and forever. Amen.
The Doxology
Pijwri abba Mwcy
O champion, Abba Moses — the refrain that carries his story.
In the church of the firstborn
In the pure assembly
Living in all piety
He was an idol worshipper
A highway robber
He inquired about the judge
Moses was a barbarian
His life was full of sin
He yearned to be purified
A thief, murderer, and adulterer
Lover of this passing world
The precious blood washed him
Moses the thirsty heard
Of our fathers the monks
The dwellers of Shiheet
He asked, “Is there a God
Great and Awesome?
My heart yearns for Him”
Abba Isidore answered,
“He took the form of man
All heads bow to Him”
Our God is merciful
He accepts the repentant
Through love, He accepted shame
Give your life to Him
Abandon your past with Him
At His graceful bands, repent of sin
Moses stood and said,
“receive me like a lost son
Help me to repent now!”
With tears and joy
With groaning and delight
He repented of his past
He approached Christ with love
Heartbroken and wounded
He wished to gain rest
He offered a true repentance
Openly without turning back
Revealing all his sins
Lo, an angel of light
Wiped away his black sins
The tablet became pure white
Abba Macarius witnessed
That his Lord forgave and saved him
A new life was granted him
He received the first mystery
By water, Spirit and fire
Removing all impurities
Repentance is amazing
Kindling fire in the heart
The stranger becomes a companion
The murderer became righteous
The sinner, a chosen vessel
The robber among the chosen ones
Repentance is powerful
Making the adulterous a virgin
And the doubtful accepted
A servant of desires and shame
Received dignity though grace
Becoming the strongest of the free
The spirit guided the tyrant
From darkness to light
Producing fruits for His beloved
He longed for monasticism
And vowed to walk in goodness
God showed him the way
His asceticism surpassed others
He served the other monks
With humility and vigils
With perseverance, he exhausted himself
Walking thousands of meter
To fill their water jars
He was advancing in the way
In steadfastness and diligence
And growth in righteousness
In virtues and prayers
In fasting and asceticism
In reverence and prostrations
An ascetic faithful worshiper
With strong / Steadfast faith
Terrifying the demons
He loved and was beloved by the brothers
They chose him for the priesthood
They made known their desire
When they tested him
The priests roused and expelled him
He submitted to their command
He said, “I am not worthy
They banished you, O black one
O you, dark skinned man!”
The patriarch heard his sayings
He learned of his righteous acts
His humble and perfect soul
He ordained him in the holy name
A voice said axioc
All the souls heard it
Blessed are you, O Moses!
You received your King’s praise
The Lord of the vine protected you
Once they requested you
For the case of a sinful monk
In the assembly they would judge him
Saint Moses came to them
A bag of sand on his back
He entered sad and depressed
They asked him what he carried
What is it that he brought in
He said he is carrying his sins
A famous helpful lesson
The monks accepted joyfully
They forgave the poor sinner
We wish to live our life
We wish to be like you
Remember us in your prayers
Before the exalted throne
Before God the great
Remember us our beloved father
Pope Abba Tawadros the great
May he grant him long life
To preach the gospel
Abba David our bishop
Keep him and us, O lord
With his prayers, protect us
The bishops and clergy
Guard them, O Holy
With the ranks of niaggeloc
The deacons and monks
The servants in every place
Lord fill them with faith
Abba Moses blessed are you
You received your King’s praise
The Lord of the vine protected you
The mention of your name
Is in all the believers’ mouths
They all say “O God of Abba Moses
Help all of us!”
From the sixty verses of the doxology