3. rather elected the religion which according to God preserves to eternal life.
4. O in what way can I describe ethically the affections of parents toward their children, the resemblance of soul and of form engrafted into the small type of a child in a wonderful manner, especially through the greater sympathy of mothers with the feelings of those born of them!
5. for by how much mothers are by nature weak in disposition and prolific in offspring, by so much the fonder they are of children.
6. And of all mothers the mother of the seven was the fondest of children, who in seven childbirths had deeply engendered love toward them;
7. and through her many pains undergone in connection with each one, was compelled to feel sympathy with them;
8. yet, through fear of God, she neglected the temporary salvation of her children.