Note 272 — THE CATHOLIC WORLD. VOL. XVIII., No. 108.—MARCH, 1874.[249] (continued 2)

I say natural accidents. The species of bread and of wine in the Holy Eucharist are supernatural accidents, and have no less active power than the substances themselves. The reason is that they imply in their constitution "the act and the activity of the substance"—actum et vim substantiæ—as S. Thomas teaches, and "all that which belongs to matter"—omne illud quod ad materiam pertinet. See the Summa Theol., p. 3, q. 77, a. 5.