Abba Isaiah said, “O me, O me! For I did not struggle to save myself. O me, O me! For I did not struggle to purify myself in order to be made worthy of the intervention of the God of mercy. O me, O me! For I did not struggle to overcome the onslaughts of your enemies so that you might reign over me.”

He also said, “O me! For I have been invested with your name, and I am serving your enemies. O me, O me! For I do what God abhors; that is why he is not healing me.”

He also said, “O me, O me! For there are those before me who are accusing me of faults or which I am aware and unaware, and am unable to repudiate them. O me, O me! How can I meet my Lord and his holy ones when my enemies do not allow that even one of my members is pure in the sight of God?”

[Abba Isaiah of Scetis, Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 26]