MOSES THE SARACEN, Saint. - He is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 7 February, but the exact day of his death is unknown. He is regarded as the apostle of the Saracens, to whose race he belonged, and he greatly promoted their conversion to Christianity.

Around the middle of the 4th century, the Saracens ravaged the Roman provinces of Phoenicia, Palestine and Arabia; their queen Mauvia consented to desist from her raids and to embrace the Catholic religion (c. 374) on condition that one of their own race be given to them as bishop. Thus M. was designated, who lived in solitude and was widely known for his virtues. He was taken to Alexandria to be consecrated by the bishop Lucius; but M. refused to receive consecration from him, because he knew him to be a follower of Arianism. He therefore had to be taken to the mountains, where the Catholic bishops lived in exile; there he allowed himself to be consecrated.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: Rufinus, Hist. eccl., II, 6; Socrates, Hist. eccl., 4, 36; Sozomen, Hist. eccl., 6, 38; Tillemont, VII, pp. 593-97; Acta SS. Februarii, II, Paris 1864, pp. 42-45; Martyr. Romanum, p. 52.

Agostino Amore

@incollection{ec8_mose_il_saraceno_santo, author = {Amore, Agostino}, title = {Mosè Il Saraceno, santo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1480}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/mose-il-saraceno-santo} }

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Moses the Saracen, Saint

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