Might Cicero Be Saved?
(And Similar Questions) …it often happens that devout parents, particularly the wives, have sought consolation from us because they have suffered such agony and heartbreak in child-bearing when, despite their best intentions and against their will, there was a premature birth or miscarriage and their child died at birth or was born dead. … First, inasmuch as one cannot and ought not know the hidden judgment of God in such a case why, after every possible care had been taken, God did not allow the child to be born alive and be baptized these mothers should calm themselves and have faith that God s will is always better than ours, though it may seem otherwise to us from our human point of view. … Second, because the mother is a believing Christian it is to be hoped that her heartfelt cry and deep longing to bring her child to be baptized will be accepted by God as an effective prayer. … Who can doubt that those Israelite children who died before they could be circumcised on the e
