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♱Daily Synaxarium ♱Monday, July 13, 2026translated

July 13, 2026 · 1 min read

On this day, the Holy Church commemorates:

*A comprehensive memorial to Gabriel the Archangel.*Saint Stephen of Saba.*The Persian Martyr Golindoch.*The Persian Martyr Cyrene.*The Righteous Saint Sarah of Egypt.*The Righteous Saints Heliophotos and his Cypriot Companions.*The Confessor Saint Afganius of Carthage.*The Righteous Saint Mildred of England.*Our Venerable Father In Saints Julian Senomanes.

✤ Saint Sarah the Egyptian ✤

The saint lived in the wilderness of Egypt around the fifth century AD. She resisted the demon of adultery for thirteen years. She would not pray for the war of the flesh to stop. On the contrary, she approached the ritual with the fear of God and was repeating, “Oh God, give me strength.” One day the temptation became severe for her, so she went out in front of her cell, and suddenly the spirit of adultery appeared to her physically and said to her, “You, Sarah, have overcome me.” She replied: “It was not me who defeated you, but my teacher, Christ.” It was said about her that she stayed near the Nile River for sixty years and never turned her eyes to look at it because she was completely absorbed in prayer. She used to say: “I lift a man up the stairs and keep death before my eyes before I climb on it.” She also said to brothers who came to visit her: “I am a man, not by nature but by thought, and you are women.”

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Sofia Thanasi

As far as I remember what he said about the fight with sins. I especially liked what he said when he came out of the cell: "It is not I who defeated you, but my Master, Christ." This makes me think how little we mention His Name in difficult moments.

Javier López

I really liked what he said when the spirit appeared to him: “It is not I who defeated you, but my Master, Christ.” Sometimes in the office, when an ugly thought comes to me, I try to remember that exact phrase. And the thing about sixty years without looking at the Nile... that really is being in something else.

Štefan Šimko

This reminded me of what Saint Sarah said: "It is not I who have overcome you, but my Master, Christ." When a bad thought pops into my head, I try to repeat it. And those sixty years without looking at the Nile - that is really powerful, one would have to pray very concentratedly.

Ioana Stoica

I remembered how he sat for sixty years by the Nile without raising his eyes from prayer. I can barely keep from looking at my phone for five minutes when I run in the evening. Her words "It was not I who overcame you, but my Teacher, Christ" I remember today, to say to them the next time something tries me.

Alžbeta Nováková

Yes, her statement about Christ is really strong, Štefan. I also repeat it sometimes when something bothers me while working with wires and my mind wanders. And those 60 years by the Nile without a single glance - that reminds me how one can get lost in prayer even in the midst of mundane things, like baking bread and forgetting the time.