d yet not be defiled: much more can the Splendor of eternal
light cleanse whatever It shines upon, but Itself cannot be sullied."
_______________________

FIFTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 31, Art. 5]

Whether the Flesh of Christ Was Conceived of the Virgin's Purest
Blood?

Objection 1: It would seem that the flesh of Christ was not conceived
of the Virgin's purest blood: For it is said in the collect (Feast of
the Annunciation) that God "willed that His Word should take flesh
from a Virgin." But flesh differs from blood. Therefore Christ's body
was not taken from the Virgin's blood.

Obj. 2: Further, as the woman was miraculously formed from the man,
so Christ's body was formed miraculously from the Virgin. But the
woman is not said to have been formed from the man's blood, but
rather from his flesh and bones, according to Gen. 2:23: "This now is
bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." It seems therefore that
neither should Christ's body have been formed from the Virgin's
blood, but from her flesh and bones.

Obj. 3: Further, Christ's body was of the same species as other men's
bodies. But other men's bodies are not formed from the purest blood
but from the semen and the menstrual blood. Therefore it seems that
neither was Christ's body conceived of the purest blood of the Virgin.

_On the contrary,_ Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iii) that "the Son
of God, from the Virgin's purest blood, formed Himself flesh,
animated with a rational soul."

_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 4), in Christ's conception His
being born of a woman was in accordance with the laws of nature, but
that He was born of a virgin was above the laws of nature. Now, such
is the law of nature that in the generation of an animal the female
supplies the matter, while the male is the active principle of
generation; as the Philosopher proves (De Gener. Animal. i). But a
woman who conceives of a man is not a virgin. And consequently it
belongs to the supernatural mode of Christ's generation, that the
active principle of generation was the supernatural power of God: but
it belongs to the natural mode of His generation, that the matter
from which His body was conceived is similar to the matter which
other women supply for the conception of their offspring. Now, this
matter, according to the Philosopher (De Gener. Animal.), is the
woman's blood, not any of her blood, but brought to a more perfect
stage of secretion by the mother's generative power, so as