In the year of 474, Arians took it upon themselves to attempt to force one Orthodox woman of Rome to accept the baptism of the Arians. The woman would not consent, so the Arians seized her, took her by force to one of their churches, and immersed her into the water in the presence of the Arian bishop. As she came out of the water, she turned to her handmaid who was holding a purse. She took two coins out of the purse, handed them to the Arian bishop, and said to him, “Thanks for the bath.” This so enraged the Arians, they dragged her out of their temple, tied her to a post, and burned her alive. In all probability, she is great friends with St. Lawrence in heaven.
Saint Ahmed lived in 17th century; he was an Ottoman Turk, a Muslim and a copyist of the Great Archive. He didn’t have a wife, but he had a Russian slave concubine. Out of his goodness, he let his concubine attend services in church. Over time, he noticed that, on the days when the Liturgy was served, she was far more gracious and loving. Not only that, he he could smell indescribable fragrance coming from her. Asking her to tell him what that scent was, and she told him that the scent was coming from the blessed bread that Christians ate after the Liturgy, and from the holy water the other Christian slave was bringing from church. Intrigued by this, he immediately set out to arrange his presence at the Divine Liturgy. During his attendance, as is done in Liturgies served by bishops, the Ecumenical Patriarch was blessing the people present with trikiri and dikiri, that is to say, his double and triple candlesticks. St. Ahmed could see rays of light erupting from the Patriarch’s fingertips, coming to rest at the heads of the faithful. For three consecutive Liturgies, no beam of light ever fell on Ahmed, and he arranged a secret baptism. For a time, he lived as a secret Christian, because converting from Islam in the Ottoman Empire at that moment was considered so rude that people simply lost their heads about it. Literally. However, just as you can’t hide a lit candle in a dark room, so Ahmed couldn’t hide his faith. One time, he organized a party for his friends, and the conversation turned to what is the best thing in life. One of his friends said that wisdom is the best thing a man can hope for; another said that woman is the best thing in the world, the third one, the one I like the most, said that pilaf with yoghurt is the best, since it will be the food in righteous in paradise. Saint Ahmed then became a real partybreaker, saying that Christianity is the best thing in life. At first, his friends didn’t take him seriously, but realizing that that Ahmed’s a real killjoy and that the party’s over, they took him to a judge. The judge essentially told him that he has two options: recant Christianity or lose his head. Well, since he’s a saint in Orthodox Church, his choice is glaringly obvious. Sorry if I spoiled it for anyone. What I find most interesting in the life of St. Ahmed is his concubine. We don’t consider her a capital S saint - but it is action of this one woman, this woman who was a slave, whose name we do not even know, that woman is the one we should thank that we have St. Ahmed in our calendar. A couple of centuries later, St. Seraphim of Sarov uttered his most famous saying: ‘’Acquire the Spirit of Peace, and thousands around you will be saved.’’ A simple act of taking holy water and blessed bread with piety converted this woman’s slavemaster to Christianity, and, as if that weren’t enough, that act, in the end, made him into a great witness and a great saint of our Church. Our acts of piety, if done with love, are never insignificant. It might be a short prayer, a sign of a cross, some holy water, or a blessing you give or receive - however little, these things can truly be life-changing. Don’t do them carelessly.
This St. Moses has a lot of names. St. Moses of Ethiopia, St. Moses the Ethiopian, St. Moses Murin (meaning ‘like an Ethiopian), St. Moses the Black, St. Moses the Abyssinian, St. Moses the Robber and St. Moses the Strong. He was such a sinner that he probably had different ID cards with different epithets in order to avoid the authorities chasing him. St. Moses lived in the 4th century. So, who was this Moses before he became St. Moses? Well, he was a real piece of work, and good thing that our Lord likes a good challenge. Moses was a slave to an important Egyptian official; his master banished him after he was, er, suspected of killing a man. Moses fled and soon he became a ringleader of a group of bandits that was notorious for its murders and robberies, because that is what you do when you want to clear your name. He really had a temper problem - once he swam to a hut, sword in teeth, in order to kill a dog and his owner because the dog’s barking prevented his robbery. The owner and the dog managed to flee in time, so in retribution Moses took some of the owner’s sheep. As Providence would have it, St. Moses once hid in a monastery of Scetes, close to Alexandria. There he witnessed the monastic life and he heard the call of repentance. He wanted to become a monk, but the monks were all like: “Yeah, you’re a known criminal, you just want the authorities off your back.” However, he persisted, going as far as to live in a single monastic cell where he subjected himself to the strictest regimen of prayer and fasting. Finally, he was admitted as one of the brethren, living in perfect obedience ot the abbot. Once, four robbers stumbled upon Moses’ solitary cell, but he, being a former ringleader and strong as an ox, quickly subdued them and took them to church in order for the monks to decide what to do with them. The robbers repented, much like Moses before, and all four became monks. Now, note that, for all his repentance, it was difficult for Moses the Robber and Moses the Strong to become the Desert Father Moses. He had extremely hard time adjusting himself to the monastery life, and he often discuss this with St. Isidore, the abbot of the monastery. Once, St. Isidore took St. Moses to a roof at the break of dawn, and showed him the rising sun. He said that, just like the Sun does not banish the darkness instantly, so does Christ banish our sins and passions slowly, until He finally fills up our being with light. Later on, St. Moses had a vision of a legion of demons in the west and a host of angels in the east. The angels were more numerous, and the two bands were preparing to do battle. St. Isidore later explained to St. Moses that, in the end, his work towards salvation will overpower his vices. St. Moses had the obedience of taking water to the other monks, especially the elders. Once, as he was reaching for the bucket, a demon struck a powerful blow to his side. St. Isidore took this instance as an indication that St. Moses was completely cured of his passions, and ever since, St. Moses had power over demons. No wonder. I mean, assaulting a man physically, that’s really petty of the devil. That was probably the most he could do, knowing he couldn’t tempt St. Moses to sin. Due to his virtue, St. Moses was ordained a deacon. Once, a bishop decided to test him, and as St. Moses was about to enter the altar, the bishop forbade him, telling him that he is unworthy to enter, being a lowly Ethiopian. St. Moses withdrew without saying a word. Upon seeing this, the bishop immediately ordained him a priest. During the period of Lent, the abbot forbade everyone to eat. However, St. Moses received some visitors, and he set out to cook food for them. Some of the monks noticed, and probably not having anything better to do, they immediately set off to tell the abbot. "Abbot, abbot, that horrible Moses is doing that horrible sin, the most horrible sin of all - cooking!" Realizing that the food was intended for the visitors, the abbot commended St. Moses. At a different time, St. Moses was invited to discuss the penance for one of the monks. Initially, St. Moses refused to attend, but when other monks finally convinced him, he came wearing a large basket filled with sand. The sand was leaking, and when the other monks asked him why is he doing that, he said the sand represents his sins - as it leaks behind him, he cannot see it, but he dares to attend the meeting where sins of another are being discussed. The monk in question was immediately forgiven by the assembly. They also probably had to sweep the room, a lot. When he was 75, St. Moses had a vision that the monastery will be overrun by robbers. He warned the others but decided to remain within the monastery himself, saying that such a death is only fitting for a former robber. Seven monks remained with the saint, and all but one were killed, the last monk hiding himself and witnessing St. Moses’ death. As he is glorified in the Kingdom by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, St. Moses remains to us a speedy helper and a great example of non-violence, repentance and humility, one 5th century Church historian going as far as to claim that, before St. Moses, there was never such an act of repentance. What can we learn from him? Well, a lot. But the most important thing is - holiness is gradual. Would St. Moses be saved solely on the act of repentance? Sure he could! However, thing is, holiness is not static, it’s dynamic. We can never get too holy. We can always get more holy, and, as ironic as it sounds, our very sins, passions and faults can be an occasion to get more holy than we were before. St. Moses never stopped growing in holiness. He is growing in holiness as we speak. St. Cyril says that, in time, even the lowliest of angels will ascend to the glory of the blazing seraphim. He didn’t say what will happen to the seraphim, but we know that they will be far ahead, growing in the Lord even more, forever. Hell is static and hell is boring, but the Kingdom can never get boring.
