them his identity. Touched to the quick by his humility and
his kindness, they offered to give him the chance to escape,
but smiling benignly at them, he refused their offer and
declared that he would rather be exiled for the Truth than
enjoy freedom.^3
In the absence of the legitimate Pope, Lucius,
supported by the Civil authorities, continued his atrocities.
Meeting with resolute refusal everywhere, he infringed on
the silence of the desert; his soldiers violated the very cells
of the solitaires and dragged them out, beating some and
exiling others. Even such an outstanding saint as Abba
Macari was not spared, but was banished to the island of
Philae.
- The attempts to break the spirit of the Copts and
impose Arianism on them were vain and futile. This truth
was forced upon the authorities with a shocking incident. It
so happened that there lived in the Eastern Desert a monk
who had great renown among the tribes of that region. He
was called Moses the Egyptian.
A few years before Valens had assumed the purple,
those desert tribes had all coalesced under the sway of a
queen called Mauvia. Their coalition made them an
irresistible force, and they became a thorn in the Emperor's
side, so he sought to sign a treaty with them. Queen Mauvia
consented to come to terms with him on one condition-that
Moses the Egyptian be consecrated Bishop for her people.
She, herself, was still a pagan, but had re-echoed her people's
wish, and they all adopted Christianity since it had been first
preached to them by Origen. So eager was Valens to
safeguard the Eastern border of his Empire, that he readily
acquiesced and ordered his men to facilitate the journey of
Moses to Alexandria where he would be consecrated.
Arriving in the city Moses found that all the Orthodox