An ascetic of Egypt, she lived some sixty years in a cell beside a river, and it is said she never lifted her eyes to look at it. For thirteen years she waged a fierce inner battle without ever asking for it to end. Monks came to test her; her replies, preserved in the Sayings, make her one of the few desert mothers whose words have reached us.
In their own words
O God, give me strength.
Sayings of the Desert Fathers, alphabetical collection, Sarah 1 (PG 65), translated from the Greek by the Manna team, her only prayer through thirteen years of battle
It was not I who beat you, but my master Christ.
Sayings of the Desert Fathers, alphabetical collection, Sarah 2 (PG 65), translated from the Greek by the Manna team, her answer to the spirit that claimed she had defeated it
If I asked God that everyone be satisfied with me, I would end up doing penance at each one's door. I would rather ask that my heart be clean toward them all.
Sayings of the Desert Fathers, alphabetical collection, Sarah 5 (PG 65), translated from the Greek by the Manna team