Moses the Black

Abba Moses the Black (330–405), also known as Abba Moses the Robber, the Ethiopian, and the Strong, was an ascetic monk and priest in Egypt in the fourth century AD, and a notable Desert Father.

Quotes

 * A brother at Scetis committed a fault. A council was called to which Abba Moses was invited, but he refused to go to it. Then the priest sent someone to say to him, ‘Come, for everyone is waiting for you.’ So he got up and went. He took a leaking jug, filled it with water and carried it with him. The others came out to meet him, seeing the trail of water behind him, and said, ‘What is this, Father?’ The old man said to them, ‘My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the errors of another.’ When they heard that they said no more to the brother but forgave him.
 * in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, as translated by Benedicta Ward (Cistercian Publications: 1975), p. 138