Moses, Bishop of the Saracens

No sooner had the emperor left Antioch than the Saracens, who had until then been allies of the Romans, revolted from them, led by Mavia, their queen, whose husband had died. So at that time all the regions of the East were ravaged by the Saracens. But a certain divine providence held back their fury, in the way I am about to describe. A man named Moses, a Saracen by birth, who lived the monastic life in the desert, became exceedingly famous for his piety, faith and miracles. Mavia, queen of the Saracens, therefore wanted this man made bishop over her nation, and promised to end the war on that condition. The Roman generals judged that a peace on such terms would be greatly to their advantage and gave orders at once for it to be ratified. [a]

So Moses was seized and brought from the desert to Alexandria, to be invested there with the office of bishop. But when he was presented for this to Lucius, who at that time presided over the churches in that city, he refused to be ordained by him, protesting in these words: “I count myself unworthy of the sacred office. But if the needs of the state require me to bear it, it will not be by Lucius laying his hand on me, for that hand has been filled with blood.” Lucius told him that it was his duty to learn the principles of religion from him, not to speak abusively. Moses replied: “Matters of faith are not in question now. But your shameful dealings against the brothers prove clearly enough that your teachings are not Christian. For a Christian ‘does not strike, does not revile, does not fight’; for ‘it is not fitting for a servant of the Lord to fight.’ But your deeds cry out against you through those who have been sent into exile, who have been thrown to the wild beasts, and who have been handed over to the flames. What our own eyes have seen is far more convincing than what we hear from someone else’s report.”

As Moses was saying these and other similar things, his friends took him to the mountains, so that he might receive ordination from the bishops who were living in exile there. Once Moses had been consecrated, the Saracen war came to an end. Mavia kept the peace she had made with the Romans so faithfully that she gave her daughter in marriage to Victor, the commander-in-chief of the Roman army. Such were the events concerning the Saracens.