Lives of the Saints
1. VENERABLE MOSES THE BLACK
An Ethiopian by birth, and by occupation at first a robber and leader of a band of robbers, and afterward a penitent and great ascetic. As the slave of a certain master, Moses fled and joined a band of robbers. Because of his great physical strength and recklessness, the robbers chose him as their chief. Suddenly pangs of conscience and repentance for his evil deeds came upon him; he left the band, entered a monastery and gave himself over to complete obedience to his spiritual father and to the monastic rule. He greatly benefited from the teachings of Saints Macarius, Arsenius and Isidore. Later he withdrew to a solitary cell for the life of silence, where he gave himself entirely to bodily toil, prayer, vigil and meditation on God. Tormented by the demon of fornication, he confessed to his spiritual father Isidore, and from him received counsel to fast as much as possible and never to eat his fill. But when even that did not help, he, following the elder's advice, began to keep vigil and pray standing throughout the night; then he adopted the practice of carrying water to the elders throughout the whole night from a distant well. After six years of terrible toil, Saint Isidore miraculously healed him of impure thoughts, fantasies and dreams inflicted upon him by demons. In old age he was ordained a priest. He founded his own monastery with seventy-five disciples and lived seventy-five years in this life. He foresaw his death, and one day said to his disciples that they should flee, for barbarians would attack the monastery. When the disciples called on him also to flee, he said that he must perish by violence, for he himself had once committed violence, according to the word: All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Matthew 26:52). And he remained with six brethren; and the barbarians came and cut them down. One of the brotherhood, hidden nearby, watched and saw seven radiant crowns descending upon the seven martyrs.
2. VENERABLE SABBAS OF PSKOV AND KRYPETSK
A Serb by origin. He first practiced asceticism in the Pskov Monastery of the Holy Theotokos, and was abbot of that monastery. But they praised him, and he fled from human glory, and withdrew to the shore of Lake Krypetsk, where he founded a new community in the name of Saint John the Theologian. Yet even there he could not hide from fame and renown. Prince Yaroslav of Pskov visited him with his wife. Sabbas did not allow the wife to enter the monastery, but blessed her and prayed to God for her outside the monastery, and healed her of a certain illness. This holy man of God reposed in the year 1495. His relics were and have remained wonder-working. Among his successors at Krypetsk, Abbot Dositheus is mentioned.
3. SYNAXIS OF ALL SAINTS OF THE KIEV CAVES
“Sabbas did not allow the wife to enter the monastery, but blessed her and prayed to God for her outside the monastery, and healed her of a certain illness.”
Hymn of Praise
Blessed is he whom God shows mercy!
The mercy of God is rejoicing,
Rejoicing in both worlds.
Moses the Black, like a prodigal son,
Repented and returned to God,
With many tears he paid for many sins,
With much fasting he dried himself out,
Black of face, but radiant of soul.
With much vigil he tamed the passions,
He freed himself from the dominion of demons,
Until his soul became like a lake
On a mountain gazing up at heaven,
In which heaven beholds its own face.
When once they asked Moses:
Do the sins of others not grieve him?
Do sinful people not concern him?
Holy Moses tearfully replied:
"He who has a dead man in his own house
Does not weep over another's dead,
But weeps over his own dead."
A lion is often transformed into a lamb —
Such a wonder only Christ creates.
Moses was a lion in the mountains,
Then became a guileless lamb.
May his holy prayers
Grant salvation unto us as well.
“He who has a dead man in his own house does not weep over another's dead, but weeps over his own.”
Reflection
A true Christian avoids human praise; not only avoids it but has a genuine fear of it. Saint Sabbas of Pskov left even his abbacy, his monastery, and his good brethren in the monastery, and fled to a desolate region solely to escape the praise of men. For the praise of men robs our heart. A certain pious prince, having heard of the ascetic labors of Saint Moses the Black, set out with his retinue into the desert to see him. They informed Moses that the prince was coming to his monastery. Moses rushed out and began to flee and hide somewhere, but unexpectedly met the distinguished visitors. "Where is the cell of Abba Moses?" the prince's servants asked him, not suspecting that this was Moses himself. Moses opened his mouth and said: "What do you want with him? He is a foolish old man, very deceitful and wholly impure in life." Hearing this, the visitors were astonished and passed on. When they arrived before Moses's cell, they inquired about the elder, and the monks said he was not there. Then they related what some monk on the road had said to them about Moses. The monks were saddened and asked: "What does this elder look like who spoke blasphemous words against the holy man?" And when they said that he was very black of face, tall and in a wretched garment, the monks exclaimed aloud: "That is indeed Abba Moses himself!" From this incident the prince profited greatly in spirit and returned home joyful.
“What do you want with him? He is a foolish old man, very deceitful and wholly impure in life.”
Contemplation
Contemplate the nobility of David (II Samuel 1), namely:
1. How a messenger arrived and reported to David the death of Saul and Jonathan, thinking he would receive a reward for it;
2. How David was bitterly grieved and lamented for Saul, who had wished him nothing but death.
Homily
on the appearance of the Messiah
This the prophet speaks of Christ the Lord as a man. There is no beauty that we should desire Him! Can He who gave form to every creature, who created the beautiful angels of heaven and all the beauty of the universe, have had no form or beauty? Let this not confuse you, brethren. He could have appeared in whatever form He wished. But He did not wish to appear in angelic beauty, just as He did not wish to appear in imperial power or in the luxury of the rich. He who goes to a house of mourning does not dress in his finest garments; nor does a physician dress in his best clothes when he goes to critically ill patients. And the Lord came to a house of mourning and to a hospital. The body is the garment of the soul. He clothed Himself in a plain garment, so as to influence not by garments but by the power of the Spirit. We do not know exactly what He looked like. According to tradition, His face was swarthy and His hair of a chestnut color. When Emperor Abgar sent his painter Ananias to paint the face of the Lord, Ananias could not even draw lines on the canvas, for, it is said, the face of Christ radiated an extraordinary light. Moreover, even if Christ had clothed Himself in the most beautiful body, such as only He could fashion for Himself, what would that bodily beauty have been compared to the immortal beauty of His Divinity? The greatest beauty of earth is barely a shadow of the beauty of heaven. The prophet Daniel was a young and handsome man, but when the angel of God stood before him, then, as he himself says: there remained no strength in me, and my countenance was changed (Daniel 10:8). What is the face of a man of earth compared to the countenance of an immortal angel of God? As darkness compared to light. Surely the prophet too, beholding Christ the immortal King in a human body, and comparing His earthly countenance with His immortal countenance, had to exclaim: there is no beauty that we should desire Him. O good and most good Lord, who for our sake clothed Thyself in our poor bodily garment to serve us and not to frighten us, to Thee be glory and praise, to Thee be glory and praise. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Even if Christ had clothed Himself in the most beautiful body, such as only He could fashion for Himself, what would that bodily beauty have been compared to the immortal beauty of His Divinity?”