Moses the Black was born in Egypt in 330 AD. He’s also called Moses the Ethiopian because of his dark skin; Moses was troubled in his upbringing. Moses was a thief and a suspected murderer. Moses led one of the biggest bandit gangs of his time. One day, Moses was trying to steal from a shopkeeper, but the shopkeeper had a dog, so Moses couldn’t steal, and he wanted to seek vengeance. One night, Moses went to the Nile to hide from the shopkeeper and his dog, and Moses stole sheep just to kill them, not even to use their wool or eat their meat.One day, Moses took shelter in a convent with some monks in the Scete desert near Alexandria while hiding from local authorities. Though, while staying there, Moses became inspired by the monks’ dedication, peace, and contentment in their lifestyle, so Moses gave up his sinful life to become a monk. But, it wasn’t easy becoming a monk.He was zealous in all he did but was very discouraged when he found out he wasn’t perfect. One instance of this was when robbers came into his desert cell at the convent and when they attacked him, he overpowered them and hurt them severely, and he felt a real Christian wouldn’t do that and was scared of what the superior monks would do to him, but he stayed calm and even convinced the monks to repent and join the convent. Moses was guided by St. Isidore, who used the metaphor of sunrise to teach gradual spiritual growth.Moses served as a prophetic spiritual leader who also taught forgiveness, such as when he was asked to attend a meeting to judge a monk and find penance for him. Moses came into the meeting with a leaking jar of water (separate accounts say he came with a basket full of sand) and when asked why, he said that he should not judge the sins of others when his sins are unseen.Moses became the leader of a colony of hermits and was ordained a priest, but we don’t know when, we just know that it happened. Around the age of 75 and around the year 407, renegades attacked the colony that Moses was living in, and he told his monks to be peaceful and retreat. Moses and 7 other monks greeted the invaders peacefully but unfortunately, the raiders didn’t return the favor, and all 8 monks were then martyred. After that instance, Moses became considered the apostle of non-violence.St. Moses the Black is often compared to St. Norbert since both of them had dissolute early lives and experienced a conversion calling by God. Both also led religious communities and taught about peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness.This is the story of St. Moses the Black and is the ending to Day 1 of Lent with the Saints with The Pilgrim Atlas and I hope everyone reading this has an amazing rest of their day on this 1425th anniversary of Ash Wednesday started by Pope Gregory I in 601 AD.