Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today, the Church gathers in solemn joy to commemorate the holy memory of our father among the saints, Moses the Black, the great penitent and ascetic of the desert.
Behold, a man once fierce as the storm winds of the wilderness, a robber and violent man, whose heart was ruled by passion and sin. Yet the Lord, who turns the hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, called him from the path of destruction into the garden of salvation. As once the Good Shepherd sought the lost sheep, so Christ sought Moses and brought him into the peace of the monastic life.
Saint Moses became as a new Moses, not leading an earthly people across the Red Sea, but leading his own soul, and the souls of many brethren, through the sea of repentance and into the promised land of the Kingdom. His tears were his river Jordan, his prayers were his cloud by day and his fire by night, and his humility was his manna in the desert.
O holy father Moses, you who once knew the strength of the sword, learned instead the strength of mercy; you who once robbed men of their goods, became instead a storehouse of heavenly wisdom; you who once bowed to sin, became instead a towering pillar of virtue.
When the brethren came to you seeking counsel, you answered with words full of grace: “If you cannot become as a flame of fire, you cannot become a monk.” Thus, you taught that the way of perfection is found not in half-hearted striving, but in the total offering of one’s life to God.
In your humility, O father, you did not judge even those who came to judge you. As it is written, when summoned to judge a brother, you came carrying a leaking jug of water, declaring: “My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them — how then can I judge my brother?” Thus, you fulfilled the word of the Lord: “Judge not, that you be not judged.”
And in your martyrdom, O faithful one, you offered your life as a final sacrifice. Refusing to resist violence with violence, you bore witness to Christ the Prince of Peace, receiving the unfading crown of glory.
Therefore, O brethren, let us behold in Saint Moses the Black a mirror for our own lives:
— That no sin is too great to be healed by repentance;
— That no past is beyond the mercy of Christ;
— That humility is the highest wisdom;
— And that the love of enemies is the path to the Kingdom.
Through the prayers of our father among the saints, Moses the Black, may Christ our true God have mercy on us and save us.
Amen.
