Saints Moses and Sarah
Saints Moses and Sarah were a brother and sister who adopted the monastic life and voluntarily offered themselves for martyrdom under Septimius Severus. Their feast day is 26 Misra.[^1]
Also known as: Moses and Sarah · Moses and Sarah (martyrs)
In brief
Saints Moses and Sarah were a brother and sister commemorated as martyrs in the Coptic tradition on 26 Misra. The Coptic Encyclopedia places them under Septimius Severus and records that they adopted the monastic life before voluntarily offering themselves for martyrdom.
Overview
Saints Moses and Sarah are recorded in The Coptic Encyclopedia as a brother and sister who adopted the monastic life and voluntarily offered themselves for martyrdom under Septimius Severus. Their joint feast day is 26 Misra.1
The encyclopedia’s index also identifies the pair explicitly as “Moses and Sarah (martyrs),” directing readers to page 1557. Its entry for Sarah includes a cross-reference to this same pair.23
History and origins
The encyclopedia’s brief notice supplies three central elements of their history: their relationship as siblings, their adoption of monastic life, and their voluntary offering of themselves for martyrdom. It places their story under Septimius Severus without assigning an individual year to these events.1
The notice presents monastic commitment and martyrdom as successive elements of their shared story. Its wording, “adopted the monastic life and voluntarily offered themselves for martyrdom,” emphasizes both their religious vocation and their initiative in facing martyrdom; it does not describe the circumstances or motives in greater detail.1
Liturgical commemoration
The feast date given for Moses and Sarah is 26 Misra. The encyclopedia lists them together under that date, preserving their identity as a sibling pair in its record of their commemoration.1
Names and identification
Moses and Sarah, not Moses the Black
The encyclopedia distinguishes Moses and Sarah from Moses the Black by listing them in separate, consecutive entries. The siblings belong to the account placed under Septimius Severus and have their feast on 26 Misra; Moses the Black is described as a fourth-to-fifth-century Ethiopian ascetic, commemorated on 24 Ba’unah, who was killed with six companions in a Berber raid in 407. His biography therefore concerns a separately identified saint, not the Moses of this sibling pair.14
Other martyrs named Sarah
The encyclopedia’s index directs the name Sarah to several paired martyr entries, including Moses and Sarah, and separately lists “Sarah and her children.” The latter group has its own notice, identifying martyrs in Alexandria under Diocletian with a feast on 25 Baramudah. These separate entries and commemorations distinguish that Sarah from the sister of Moses.35
Questions
Frequently asked questions
- Who were Saints Moses and Sarah?
- Moses and Sarah were a brother and sister who adopted the monastic life and voluntarily offered themselves for martyrdom under Septimius Severus.
- When is the feast of Saints Moses and Sarah?
- Their feast day is 26 Misra, according to The Coptic Encyclopedia.
- Is Moses, the brother of Sarah, the same as Moses the Black?
- The Coptic Encyclopedia lists them separately. Moses and Sarah are commemorated on 26 Misra, whereas Moses the Black is commemorated on 24 Ba’unah and was killed with six companions in a Berber raid in 407.
References
Sources
- 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 513)
Moses and Sarah (feast day: 26 Misra), a brother and sister under Septimius Severus who adopted the monastic life and voluntarily offered themselves for martyrdom.
- 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia — Index — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 314)
Moses and Sarah (martyrs), 1557
- 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia — Index — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 398)
Sarah. See Bahnam and Sarah (martyrs); Benam and Sarah (martyrs); Moses and Sarah (martyrs) Sarah and her children (martyrs), 1558
- 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 513)
MOSES THE BLACK (feast day: 24 Ba’unah), fourth-to-fifth-century Ethiopian slave who turned brigand, then ascetic. He and six companions were killed in a Berber raid in 407.
- 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 516)
Sarah and Her Children (or Her Two Sons) (feast day: 25 Baramudah), martyrs in Alexandria under Diocletian.
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This article was drafted from the sources listed above with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor before publication.