We hardly know anything about his past before his repentance except that he was black in colour, and it seems that he was from one of the Berber tribes. His life was so evil that it was said that there was no vice he did not complete. As for his birth, he was born between 330 and 340 AD. It seems that he was a slave of the chief of a sun-worshipping tribe, but because of his wickedness, he was expelled by his master, so he engaged in looting, robbery, and murder. It is said that because of these qualifications, he became the head of a band of bandits.
With all the evil he was doing, he raised his face and addressed the sun like a true god, asking him to make himself known. He heard a voice instructing him to go to this wilderness to meet the monks of the wilderness of Sheheit, whose fame at that time was very famous.
He heard a voice instructing him to go to this wilderness to meet the monks of the Shehit wilderness, whose fame at that time was very famous. The elder asked him: ‘What do you want, brother, here?’ Moses replied: ‘I heard that you are the righteous servant of God, and for this reason I fled and came to you, so that the God who saved you might save me.’ He asked him with urgency and reverence: ‘I want to be with you, even though I have done many sins and great evils.’
He asked him about his life, and he confessed to him all the evils he had done. Seeing his frankness, he began to teach and exhort him with the words of God and his words about the coming judgement, and left him to his reflections.
After some time, Moses asked Abba Isidros to become a monk, and he explained to him the troubles of monastic life in terms of wilderness fatigue, battling demons and physical needs, and said: ‘It is better for you, my son, to go to the land of Egypt to live there.’ This was as a test for Moses, but he did not do so. This was to test Moses, but after seeing his fortitude and sincerity of intention, he sent him back to St Macarius the Great, the father of the wilderness.
Moses openly confessed all his past sins and sins in the church. During the confession, Saint Macarius saw a tablet with black writing on it, and every time Moses confessed a sin, an angel wiped it away, so that when the confession was over, the tablet was completely white. After that, Bishop Macarius preached to him and brought him back to St Isidorus, who dressed him in monastic robes.
On the advice of his confessor, Moses tried to exhaust his strong body by standing in prayer, fasting, and devotions. In order to suppress his body, he travelled at night to the villages of the old monks and took their jars and filled them with water. The devil, weary of his striving, met him at the well once and beat him severely, leaving him unable to move, until some brothers came to the well and carried him to the church with Father Isidoros, and he remained in the church for three days until he regained his strength to move.
Once, four thieves robbed his village, so he tied them all up, carried them and brought them to the church. When these thieves learnt that he was Moses, who was the head of a band of thieves, they wanted to repent and become monastic, so he preached many words to them, moving their hearts.
When the patriarch wanted to test him before ordaining him, he ordered the priests to expel him as soon as he entered the temple, saying, ‘Get out of here, you black man.’ When he was expelled, the patriarch sent him after him. When the patriarch sent a deacon after him, he heard him say to himself: ‘They have done to you what you deserve because you are not a human being, and you dared to associate with people. Why do you sit with them?’ He was ordained a priest in Alexandria by Pope Theophilus, the 23rd Patriarch. A voice was heard saying, ‘Axios Axios Axios Axios. Worthy, worthy, worthy.’ After they dressed him in the white tunics, they said to him, ‘Behold, you have become all white, Moses,’ but he humbly replied, ‘May this be on the inside as well as on the outside.’
It is said of a monk that he fell into a misstep, and a council was convened to try him, and they sent for Father Moses. He did not want to come. The priest sent a message to him, saying: ‘Come, Moses, the people are waiting for you. When they urged him, he got up and came carrying a sack pierced with sand. When the brothers who came out to meet him saw him, they marvelled and said to him: ‘What is this, Father?’ He answered them: ‘You invite me to judge a brother for a slip, and these are my sins behind me, running unseen and unnoticed.’ They were ashamed of him and forgave the brother. They were ashamed of him and forgave the guilty brother.
The barbarians came to the monastery, and the Spirit knew of their coming before they arrived. He told this to the brothers, who were seven in number, and told them to flee. When they asked him about himself and said to him, ‘And you, Father, do you not flee?’ He said, ‘For a long time I have been waiting for this day to fulfil the saying of Jesus, “He who takes by the sword will be taken by the sword”’ (Matthew 26:52). They said to him, ‘We also do not flee but die with you.’ He said to them, ‘Behold, the barbarians are approaching the door.’ The barbarians entered and killed them, but one of them was afraid and fled to the fortress and saw seven crowns coming down from heaven that crowned the seven, so he also came forward and received the crown of martyrdom with them.
Thus, Bishop Moses completed his endeavour on the 24th of the month of Buna in the year 408 AD.
