They said of Amma Sarah that for thirteen years she was fiercely attacked by the demon of fornication. She never prayed that the warfare would leave her, but rather said, “God, give me strength.”
Once the same spirit of fornication attacked Amma Sarah more violently, suggesting the vain things of the world to her. She did not give way, because of the fear of God and her ascetic practice, but one day went up onto her roof to pray. Then the spirit of fornication appeared to her bodily and said, “You have conquered me, Sarah.” She answered, “I have not conquered you; my Lord Christ has.”
They said of Amma Sarah that she lived beside the river for sixty years and never bent her eyes down to look at it.
Once two elders, great anchorites from the region of Pelusium, came to Amma Sarah. As they were traveling, they said to one another, “Let us humble this old woman.” They said to her, “Be careful that your thought is not lifted up and you say, ‘Look, anchorites come to me, a woman.’” Amma Sarah answered them, “By nature I am a woman, but not in my thought.”
Amma Sarah said, “If I pray to God that everyone be satisfied with my conduct, I will find myself making a prostration at every person’s door. Instead I will pray that my heart may be pure toward everyone.”
Amma Sarah also said, “When I put my foot on the ladder to go up, I place death before my eyes before I ascend.”
She also said, “It is good to give alms even for the sake of people. For even if at first it is done to please people, afterward it advances toward pleasing God.”
Once some men from Scetis came to Amma Sarah. She set a basket before them. They left the good things and ate the rotten ones. She said to them, “You really are men of Scetis.”