Amma Sarah was a wise, meek, loving mother who was beloved by all. The Desert Fathers say of her that she spent three years in a battle against evil thoughts and did not once ask God to take away these wars but insisted on her claim that He may give her the strength to be victorious. She once said, “If I prayed to God that all men should approve of my conduct, I should find myself penitent at the door of each one, but I shall rather pray that my heart may be pure towards all.” She also said, “It is good to give alms for men’s sake. Even if it is only done to please men, through it one can begin to seek to please God.”
1144 Palladius, The Lausiac History of Palladius , trans., W. K. Lowther Clarke (London: MacMillan, 1918) 46, 54.
1145 Palladius, The Lausiac History of Palladius , trans., W. K. Lowther Clarke (London: MacMillan, 1918) 55.3: p. 161.
1146 Palladius, Dialogue on the Life of St. John Chrysostom 17 (ACW 45:115).
1147
Palladius, The Lausiac History of Palladius , trans., W. K. Lowther Clarke (London: MacMillan, 1918) 56: pp. 161–162.