Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/656

 MOSES

AOC)

MOSES

Moscow is the Temple of Our Saviour and Hedrmicr, built as a memorial and thanks offering in commemo- ration of the retreat of the French from Moscow. It. was consecrated in 1S83, is probably the most beautiful church in Russia and is filled with modern art adapted to the requirements of the Orcek Kite. There are two .Vrches of Triumph in Moscow — one celebratin); isr2, near the Warsaw station, and the other called the Ke<l dale, commemorating Empress Elizabeth. \t Scrgievo, about forty miles to the oast of Moscow, is the celebrated Trinity Monas- tery (Troilsd-Scrgici'ukaya Latrn), which is intimately bound up with the history of Moscow, and is one of the greatest monasteries and most celebrated places of iiilgrimage in Russia; it played a great l)art in the freeing of Russia from the Tatar yoke. There are three Roman Catholic churches in Moscow: the large church of St. Ix)uis on the Malaya Lubianka, the church and school of Sts. Peter and Paul in the Milu- tinsky Pereulok, and another small chapel. There is also a (Ireek Catholic chapel recently founded by a priest converted from the Old Believers with a hand- ful of worshippers.

Gerr.\re, Story of Moscow (London. 1903) : Morfill, Uii^i. of Russia (New York, 1902); Meakin. Russia (Philadelphia, 1906); Leroy-Beauueu, Empire of the Tsor.^. I (Nr.w York. l',tU2(: Fa- BRlcira, Le Kremlin dc Moscou (M.. -.^, 1 ^^ ;. , / mh i , U.isAv/u (Leipzig. 1902); Brugoen, Das /i. . I i i.-, I!tn2);

pELKf^z, Oe^sch, tier Union (Vicnwi, I " n . /, ' vr (St.

Petersburg. 1900); Goludinski, I,!":-:j., Z;, /.., V ..; i (Mos- cow, 1904); Raspredeleniya naseleniija Imptrii (.St. l^etersburg, 1901); Urban, Statystyka Katolicyzmu w Panstwie Rosyjskiem in the Przeglad Powszechny (Cracow, Aug. and Sept., 1906).

Andrew J. Shipman.

Moses, Hebrew liberator, leader, lawgiver, prophet, and historian, lived in the thirteenth and early part of the twelfth century B. c.

Name. — nCitD Mosheh (M. T.), MuCtr^t, Mua-^j. In Ex., ii, 10, a derivation from the Hebrew Mashah (to draw) is implied. Josephus and the Fathers assign the Coptic mo (water) and ttses (saved) as the constit- uent parts of the name. Nowadays the view of Lepsius, tracing the name back to the Egyptian mesh (child), is widely patronized by Egyptologists, but nothing decisive can be established.

Sources. — To deny with Winckler and Cheync, or to doubt, as do Renan and Stade, the historic person- ality of Moses, is to undermine and render unintelligi- ble the subsequent history of the Israelites. Rabbini- cal literature teems with legends touching every event of his marvellous career: taken singly, these popular tales are j)Urely imaginative, yet, considered in their cumulative force, t hey vouch for the reality of a grand and illustrious pensonage, of strong character, high purpose, and noble achievement, so deep, true, and efficient in his religious convictions as to thrill and subdue the minds of an entire race for centuries after his death. The Bible furnishes the chief authentic account of this luminous life.

BiriTii TO Vocation (Ex., ii, 1-22). — Of Levitic extraction, and bom at a time when by kingly edict had been decreed the drowning of every new male offspring among the Lsraelites, the "goodly child" Moses, after three months' concealment, was exposed in a basket on the banks of the Nile. An elder brother (Ex., vii, 7) and sister (Ex., ii, 4), Aaron and Marj' (AV and RV, Miriam), had already graced the union of .Jochabed and Amram. The second of these kept watch by the river, and was instrumental in induc- ing Pharaoh's daughter, who rescued the child, to en- trust him to a Hebrew nurse. The one she designedly summoned for the charge was Jochabed, who, when her "son had grown up", delivered him to the princess. In his new surroimdings, he was schooled "in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts, vii, 22). Moses next appears in the bloom of sturdy manhood, resolute with sympathies for his degraded brethren. Daunt- le,s,sly he hews down an Egyptian assailing one of them, and on the morrow tries to appease the wrath of two

compatriots who were (|uarrelling. He is misunder- stood, however, and, when upbraided with the mur- der of the previous day, he fears his life is in jeopardy. Pharaoh has heard the news and seeks to kill him. Moses flees to Madian, An act of rustic gallantry there .secures for him a home with Raguel, the priest. iSephora, one of Raguel's seven daughters, eventually becomes his wife and Gersam his first-bom. His second son, Eliezer, is named in commemoration of his .successful flight from Pharaoh.

Vocation and Mi.ssion (Ex., ii, 23-xii,33). — After forty years of shepherd life, Moses speaks with God. To Horeb (Jebel Shcrbal'.') in the heart of the moun- tainous Sinaitic peninsula, he drives the flocks of Raguel for the last time. A bush there flaming un- burned attracts him, but a miraculous voice forbids his approach and declares the ground so holy that to approach he must remove his shoes. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob designates him to deliver the Hebrews from the Egyptian yoke, and to conduct them into the "land of milk and honey", the region long since promised to the seed of Abraham, the Palestine of later years. Next, God reveals to him His name under a special form Yahweh (see art. Jehovah), as a "memorial unto all generations". He performs two miracles to convince his timorous li.'itcner, appoints Aaron as Moses's "prophet", and Moses, so to speak, as Aaron's God (Ex., iv, 16). Diffidence at once gives way to faith and magnanim- ity. Moses bids adieu to Jethro (Raguel), and, with his family, starts for Egypt. He carries in his hand the "rod of God", a symbol of the fearlessness with which he is to .act in performing signs and wonders in the presence of a hardened, threatening monarch. His conlidiui'i- wtixes strong, but he is uncircumcised, and God rjiccis him on the way and fain would kill him. Seplior;i saves her "bloody spouse", and ap- peases God by circumcising a son. Aaron joins the party at Horeb. The first interview of the brothers with their compatriots is most encouraging, but not so with the despotic sovereign Asked to allow the Hebrews three days' respite for sacrifices in the wilderness, the angry monarch not only refuses, but he ridicules their God, and then effectually em- bitters the Hebrews' minds against their new chiefs as well as against himself, by denying them the neces- sary straw for exorbitant daily exactions in brick- making. A rupture is about to ensue with the two strange brothers, when, in a vision, Moses is divinely constituted "Pharaoh's God", and is commanded to use his newly imparted powers. He has now at- tained his eightieth year. The episode of Aaron's rod is a prelude to the plagues. Either personally or through Aaron, sometimes after warning Pharaoh or again quite suddenly, Moses causes a series of Divine manifestations described as ten in number in which he humiliates the sun and river gods, afflicts man and beast, and displays such unwonted control over the earth and heavens that even the magicians are forced to recognize in his prodigies "the finger of God". Pharaoh softens at times but never suflnciently to meet the demands of Moses without restrictions. He treasures too highly the Hebrew labour for his public works. A crisis arrives with the last plague. The Hebrews, forewarned by Moses, cele- brate the first Pasch or Phase with their loins girt, their shoes on their feet, and staves in their hands, ready for rapid escape. Then God carries out his dreadful threat to pass through the land and kill every first-born of man and beast, thereby executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt. Pliaraoh can resist no longer. He joins the stricken populace in begging the Hebrews to depart.

Exodus and the FoRTy Years (passim after Ex., xii, 34). — At the head of 600,000 men, besides women and children, and heavily laden with the spoils of the Egyptians, Moses follows a way through the