Moses the Black

My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the errors of another.

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

Wortley, John (2014). Give Me a Word: The Alphabetical Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Yonkers, New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88141-497-4. 

• A brother once erred at Scete and a council was held. They sent for Abba Moses but he was unwilling to come. So the priest sent to him, saying: “Come, for the company is waiting for you.”
  He got up and came; he took a basket with many holes, filled it with sand and carried it [with him]. Coming out to meet him, they said to him: “What is this, father?”
  and the elder said to them: “My sins are running out behind me and I do not see them—yet here I have come today to pass judgment on the faults of another!”
  They said nothing to the brother when they heard this, but forgave him.
  • Saying 2

• They used to say of Abba Moses that when he became a cleric and they put the stole on him, the archbishop said to him: “Look, you have become all white, Abba Moses.”
  The elder said to him: “Maybe outside, my lord Pope, but what about inside?”
  The bishop wanted to put him to the test; so he said to the clergy: “When Abba Moses comes into the sanctuary, chase him away and follow him to hear what he says.”
  The elder came in; they denounced him and chased him off, saying: “Get out, Ethiopian.”
  Out he went, saying to himself: “They treated you rightly, ash-skinned black [man]; since you are not human, why come among humans?”
  • Saying 4

• A brother visited Abba Moses at Scete asking him for a saying. The elder said to him: “Go and stay in a cell; your cell will teach you everything.”
  • Saying 6