Venerable Sarah Of The Desert

Venerable Sarah (Sarah of the Desert, of Egypt/Libya) labored in the Egyptian desert in the 4th–5th centuries, most likely flourishing in the late 4th to mid-5th century in the region of Skete near the Nile. Having embraced monasticism, she withdrew into the desert and spent about sixty years in a cell by the Nile, never once looking at the river — so completely was she absorbed in prayer. For thirteen years she endured a fierce demonic assault of lustful thoughts, yet never prayed for the struggle to end, only for strength to endure it, saying: "Lord, give me strength!" According to tradition, when the demon of fornication appeared to her in bodily form and said, "You have defeated me, Sarah," she replied, "Not I, but my Master Christ has conquered you." To two hermits who came to test her humility, she said: "I am a man in my thoughts, though you are women." Amma Sarah's sayings are preserved in the Apophthegmata Patrum and are venerated alongside those of Saints Syncletica and Theodora of Alexandria — the three great Desert Mothers of antiquity. Her feast is kept on July 13/26.