Here one objection can be foreseen. How, one may ask, can all this be applied to infant Baptism, to children who obviously have neither personal and conscious faith nor personal “desire”? In fact this is a “helpful” objection, for it is by answering it that we may grasp the ultimate meaning and depth of the Sacrament of Baptism. First of all, the question ought not to be liked to children alone but indeed extend to every Baptism. If what we have just said about faith and desire were understood as implying that the reality and the efficacy of Baptism depends on personal faith, is contingent upon the conscious desire of the individual, then the “validity” of each Baptism, be it infant or adult, should be questioned. For to whom is it given to measure faith, to pass judgment on the degree of “comprehension” and “desire” in it?
Alexander Schmemann
Of Water and Spirit
pg. 67