Saint Moses the Black of Scetis
Desert father, former robber
- Feast day
- August 28
- Lived
- c. 330–405
- Patronage
- Those struggling with violence and addiction; racial reconciliation
A murderous bandit chief in Egypt who became one of the gentlest of the desert fathers, Saint Moses the Black is remembered above all for refusing to judge another man's sin.
Life
Moses was an Ethiopian slave dismissed for theft and murder who led a band of seventy robbers in the Nile valley. Hiding from the authorities among the monks of Scetis, he was so struck by their peace that he stayed, and was eventually ordained.
The most famous saying about him tells of a council called to judge a brother's fault. Moses came carrying a leaking basket of sand on his back. 'My sins run out behind me and I do not see them,' he said, 'and today I am coming to judge the sins of another.' The council dismissed the case.
Death
When berbers attacked Scetis, Moses refused to fight or flee, telling the brothers that he who lives by the sword dies by the sword. He was killed with seven others at the age of about seventy-five, having reversed exactly the life he had begun with.
When Saint Moses the Black of Scetis is commemorated
The feast falls on August 28 on the Revised Julian (New) calendar used by most Greek, Antiochian and Romanian parishes. Parishes that keep the Julian (Old) calendar — much of the Russian, Serbian and Georgian Churches, and Mount Athos — celebrate it on the civil date September 10, thirteen days later. You can switch between both reckonings anywhere on this site.
See the full liturgical day for August 28, 2027
That page gives the fasting rule in force, the Epistle and Gospel appointed for the day, and every other saint commemorated alongside Saint Moses the Black of Scetis. To keep the feast, look for a parish in the USA, Canada or Australia directory, and read the Akathist hymns appointed for private prayer.