In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast about the real lives of the saints, host John O'Connor tells the story of St. Moses the Black — a former slave, murderer, and leader of a violent gang of seventy-five men who terrorized the Nile Valley in fourth century Egypt.

He once swam a river at night with a sword in his teeth to settle a score over a barking dog.

He died thirty-five years later with his hands open — greeting the men who came to kill him. Without raising a hand in defense.

What happened in between is one of the most dramatic transformations in the history of the Christian faith.

What you'll hear in this episode:
— A slave who became the most feared criminal in Egypt
— The sword in his teeth and the river he swam to settle a score
— The desert community he stumbled into while running from the law — and why he refused to leave
— Dragging four robbers into a chapel because he didn't know what else to do with them
— The sunrise sermon that changed how he measured his own progress
— The racial contempt he faced — and the dignity he answered it with
— Seventy-five criminals became seventy-five monks. Same number. Completely different direction.
— What his slow transformation means for wherever you are stuck right now

St. Moses the Black is the patron saint of African Americans, of people struggling with temptation, and of anyone who believes their past disqualifies them from a future.

Everyday Saints is a weekly Catholic podcast telling the real, human stories of the saints in plain language — for regular people with real jobs, real doubts, and real lives. No theology degree required.

New episodes every Thursday.

Host: John O'Connor