- Matthew 6:33 -
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things
will be given to you as well.
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"Abba, Father, I trust you completely to meet my needs in your timing and
according to your methods. And I will continue to obey you, by the power
of
your Spirit, believing that as I do, You will take care of me."
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February 7th - Life of St. Moses the Black
One of the more exciting of the early monks in the period of desert
Christian monasticism was a Black African (Nubian) now honored as St.
Moses
the Black. The Lausiac History of Palladius is the main historical source
for his life. There is also an account found in the "Bibliotheca
Sanctorum"
by J. W. Sauget, and approximately 49 apophthegmata found in "The Desert
Christian" by Sr. Benedicta Ward. The life of Moses is well do***ented.
He had been a slave of a government official in Egypt who discharged him
for
theft and suspected murder. He became the leader of a gang of bandits who
roamed the Nile Valley and had the reputation for being associated with
terror and violence.
Moses was a large and imposing figure; he became rather notorious for his
escapades. On one occasion, a barking sheep dog prevented Moses from
executing a planned robbery, so he swore vengeance on the owner. Carrying
out his threat, he approached the hut of his victim from the opposite side
of the Nile and, placing his weapons between his teeth, swam the river.
The
owner of the dog heard the approach, so he hid along the riverbank, thus
escaping disaster. Moses, not finding the shepherd, took four rams from
the
flock, towed them back across the river, flayed them, sold the skins for
wine, cooked the best parts, and feasted before walking back 50 miles to
his
camp.
On one occasion, when he sought to hide from local authorities, he took
shelter with some monks in a monastic colony in Skete in the western
desert
near Alexandria. The dedication of their lives and their peace and
contentment seem to have influenced him deeply. Eventually, he gave up his
old way of life and became a monk himself.
The conversion of Moses was not instantaneous, he had a rather difficult
time adjusting to regular monastic discipline. His flair for adventure
remained with him. Once, while living in a small cell, he was attacked by
four robbers. Much to their surprise, Moses fought and overpowered them,
tied them together and dragged them to the chapel where the other monks
were
praying. He dumped the crew in front of the other monks and exclaimed that
he did not think it "Christian" to hurt the intruders. He asked what he
should do with them. According to tradition, the overwhelmed robbers
repented, were converted, and themselves became monks under the influence
of
Moses.
He was zealous of everything he undertook, but became discouraged when he
concluded he was not becoming a perfect monk advanced in all the degrees
of
spiritual perfection. Early one morning before dawn, St. Isadore, abbot of
the monastery, took Brother Moses to the roof and together they watched
the
first rays of the dawn come over the horizon. They stayed there until the
new day had begun. Then Isidore said, "Only slowly do the rays of the sun
drive away the night and usher in a new day and, thus, only slowly does
one
become a perfect contemplative."
The humble Moses also proved to be effective as a prophetic spiritual
leader. One day the abbot ordered everyone to fast during a particular
week.
During that time, some brothers came to visit Moses, and he cooked a meal
for them. Seeing the smoke, the neighboring monks told the abbot that
Moses
had broken the command. But knowing his remarkable way of life, these same
monks, when they came to confront Moses, observed, "You did not keep the
commandment of men, but it was so that you might keep the commandment of
God." Some see in this account, by the way, one of the earliest allusions
to
the Paschal fast which developed in the fourth century and later became
the
Lenten fast.
In another incident related in the sources, one of the brothers committed
a
fault. A council met and Moses was invited, but refused to attend. Someone
came to him to let him know the others were waiting, at which Moses went
to
the meeting. He took a leaking jug filled with water and carried it on his
shoulder (another version has him carrying a basket of sand with a hole in
it). When he arrived, the others came out to meet him asking, "What is
this?" Moses replied, "My sins run out behind me and I do not see them,
but
today I am coming to judge the errors of another." Hearing that, they said
no more to the erring brother, but forgave him.
A favorite incident of many is the story of the hospitality of a certain
Arsenius toward a visiting monk. Arsenius received the monk in absolute
silence. Moses, however, greeted the visitor with joy. When someone asked
for an explanation, the answer was in the form of two visions. One has
Arsenius in a boat with Angels in silence, another saw Moses in the boat
with the Angels eating sweetmeats.
Moses became the spiritual leader of a colony of hermits in the desert
near
Skete. At some time, he had been ordained a priest - an uncommon
phenomenon
at that period for desert monks. When he was 75 years old, about the year
407, word came that a group of renegades planned to attack the colony. The
brothers wished to defend themselves, but Moses forbade such action. He
told
them to retreat rather than take up the sword. He and seven others stayed
on
to greet the invaders with open arms, but all were martyred by the
bandits.
A modern interpretation honors St. Moses the Black as an apostle of
nonviolence.
Saint Quote:
He said: that it was a Great delusion to think that the times of prayer
ought to differ from other times; that we are as strictly obliged to
adhere
to God by action in the time of action, as by prayer in its season.
- Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
Bible Quote:
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
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THE PRAYER RADIATING CHRIST
Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly
that all my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
****ne through me and be so in me
that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus!
Stay with me and then I shall begin to ****ne as You ****ne,
so to ****ne as to be a light to others;
the light, O Jesus, will be all from You;
none of it will be mine:
it will be You ****ning on others through me.
Let me thus praise You in the way You love best:
by ****ning on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching, not by words, but by my example,
by the catching force,
the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You.
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