From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Excerpt from The Epistles of Clement   
      
   "Paul, also, having seven times worn chains, and been hunted and   
   stoned, received the prize of such endurance. For he was the herald of   
   the Gospel in the West as well as in the East, and enjoyed the   
   illustrious reputation of the faith in teaching the whole world to be   
   righteous. And after he had been in the extremity of the West, he   
   suffered martyrdom before the sovereigns of mankind; and thus   
   delivered from this world, he went to his holy place, the most   
   brilliant example of steadfastness that we possess." [The Epistles of   
   Clement: to the Church in Philippi 4.3].   
      
   The reference in St. Clement's passage to the "extremity of the West"   
   is most likely a reference to the Roman Province of Iberium, or Spain.   
   "The West" is an expression often used by Roman writers to identify   
   Spain.   
      
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   August 28th - 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 documented.   
      
   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:   
   We must have confidence in God, Who is what He always has been, and we   
   must not be disheartened because things turn out contrary to us.   
   -- St. Philip   
      
   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)   
      
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)