Moses the Black of Scete
August 28
Apolytikion in the First Tone
Thou didst prove to be a citizen of the desert, an angel in the flesh, and a
wonderworker, O Moses, our God-bearing Father. By fasting, vigil, and prayer
thou didst obtain heavenly gifts, and thou healest the sick and the souls of
them that have recourse to thee with faith. Glory to Him that hath given thee
strength. Glory to him that hath crowned thee. Glory to Him that worketh
healings for all through thee.
Kontakion in the Third Tone
O all-blest and righteous Father Moses, thou didst drive away the passions'
darkness, being richly illumined with light divine; and with thy vigilant
prayers, thou didst wither up the wanton pride of the flesh, and didst mount on
high to the citadel above, where do thou continually entreat Christ God to
grant great mercy unto us.
Saint Moses, who is also called Moses the Black, was a slave, but because of
his evil life, his master cast him out, and he became a ruthless thief,
dissolute in all his ways. Later, however, coming to repentance, he converted,
and took up the monastic life under Saint Isidore of Scete. He gave himself
over to prayer and the mortification of the carnal mind with such diligence
that he later became a priest of exemplary virtue. He was revered by all for
his lofty ascetical life and for his great humility. Once the Fathers in Scete
asked Moses to come to an assembly to judge the fault of a certain brother, but
he refused. When they insisted, he took a basket which had a hole in it, filled
it with sand, and carried it on his shoulders. When the Fathers saw him coming
they asked him what the basket might mean. He answered, "My sins run out behind
me, and I do not see them, and I am come this day to judge failings which are
not mine." When a barbarian tribe was coming to Scete, Moses, conscious that he
himself had slain other men when he was a thief, awaited them and was willingly
slain by them with six other monks, at the end of the fourth century. He was a
contemporary of Saint Arsenius the Great.
August 28
Apolytikion in the First Tone
Thou didst prove to be a citizen of the desert, an angel in the flesh, and a
wonderworker, O Moses, our God-bearing Father. By fasting, vigil, and prayer
thou didst obtain heavenly gifts, and thou healest the sick and the souls of
them that have recourse to thee with faith. Glory to Him that hath given thee
strength. Glory to him that hath crowned thee. Glory to Him that worketh
healings for all through thee.
Kontakion in the Third Tone
O all-blest and righteous Father Moses, thou didst drive away the passions'
darkness, being richly illumined with light divine; and with thy vigilant
prayers, thou didst wither up the wanton pride of the flesh, and didst mount on
high to the citadel above, where do thou continually entreat Christ God to
grant great mercy unto us.
Saint Moses, who is also called Moses the Black, was a slave, but because of
his evil life, his master cast him out, and he became a ruthless thief,
dissolute in all his ways. Later, however, coming to repentance, he converted,
and took up the monastic life under Saint Isidore of Scete. He gave himself
over to prayer and the mortification of the carnal mind with such diligence
that he later became a priest of exemplary virtue. He was revered by all for
his lofty ascetical life and for his great humility. Once the Fathers in Scete
asked Moses to come to an assembly to judge the fault of a certain brother, but
he refused. When they insisted, he took a basket which had a hole in it, filled
it with sand, and carried it on his shoulders. When the Fathers saw him coming
they asked him what the basket might mean. He answered, "My sins run out behind
me, and I do not see them, and I am come this day to judge failings which are
not mine." When a barbarian tribe was coming to Scete, Moses, conscious that he
himself had slain other men when he was a thief, awaited them and was willingly
slain by them with six other monks, at the end of the fourth century. He was a
contemporary of Saint Arsenius the Great.
