Therefore they baptize no one until he is thirty years of age.
In cases of imminent death a layman or a woman could baptize, and in the case of new-born children it is often necessary.
In conditional baptism the Latins, since about the year 1227, use the formula, " If thou art not baptized, then do I baptize thee," &c. The Latins further insist on a strict observance of the traditional matter and form.
The fact is that the Montanists represented the conservatism of their day, and even now the Roman Church admits the right of laymen to baptize when a priest cannot be had.
From about the beginning of the 12th century, when it became usual to baptize infants soon after their birth instead of at stated times (Easter and Pentecost), the ceremony of scrutiny was incorporated with that of the actual baptism.
