A Book Review… On The Acts Of Consecration And Of Faith
By JOHN TUTTLE
Ego Eimi, It Is I: Falling in Eucharistic Love by Fr. Armand de Malleray, FSSP, published by Sophia Institute Press, Bedford, NH: sophiainstitute.com; 800-888-9344.
Penned by Fr. Armand de Malleray, FSSP, Ego Eimi, It Is I: Falling in Eucharistic Love is a book that tackles the necessity of faith in Christ’s Eucharistic Presence and a few of the elements that might aid or hinder such faith among priests and laity alike.
A specialized study, Ego Eimi closely examines the act of Consecration and its context within the liturgy, as well as the general act of faith, particularly when it comes to Communion, the receiving of Jesus in His entirety under the outward appearance of bread and wine.
Here is a true stumbling block, that which the senses fail to detect and the intellect to fully comprehend: the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, where the eyes and taste buds register only a tiny morsel. Yet, this is faith. This is the hard saying that lost for our Lord so many of His onlookers and followers. But it is, for those who believe, life eternal. For in the Holy Eucharist, we receive the very Person who has within Himself the life that is the light of men (cf. John 1:4). It is this deepest, most delicate and humbling of mysteries that Fr. de Malleray writes of.
The reader will find de Malleray’s writing style brimming with lucidity and wit, with the occasional analogy and anecdote, not unlike the prose of G.K. Chesterton. I can honestly say that before I started Ego Eimi, I didn’t expect to see a priest making a reference to the Disney blockbuster Frozen in a religious book. (You can find this reference in the Introduction.) But life never ceases to be full of surprises.
In the book, the reader is led chapter by chapter to uncover major themes concerning the sacrifice of the Mass, Mary’s resounding “Yes” to her Creator, the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, the implications of faith or the lack thereof, God’s mercy, and a series of symbols both hidden and visible throughout Scripture pointing to the significance of the Sacred Host.
These symbols, which are disc-like “lenses” through which we may better understand the gravity of what Jesus offers us in the Host, consist of the stone covering the tomb, a coin from Judas’ payment, the “apple” of Mary’s eye, the ovum in her virginal womb, and the sun and moon. By these, de Malleray beautifully expresses numerous levels of significance — of love, victory, sacrifice, and mercy — all present in what looks even to us believers like a little wafer of bread. Yet, here is Jesus’ Presence, physical and whole.
Perhaps the longest chapter, “The Formulas of Consecration,” is dedicated to a hot debate on changes effected through the “new missal of Pope Paul VI.” While recognizing the living liturgy as a place for organic growth and development, de Malleray posits that many of the changes to Consecration formulae in the 1969 missal were not only unnecessary, but also potentially harmful to genuine faith.
Although the new adaptations infused the Roman Rite with more Scripture readings (such as more content to be read for the Gospels and epistles), the author focuses on various changes to the positioning of the Consecration which, in his view, detract attention — and faith — from the miracle of transubstantiation in the present moment.
“Faith is the key,” de Malleray writes. The Treasure it opens, the Holy Eucharist and its outpouring of graces, is unfathomable, for the Holy Eucharist is God the Son Himself. And God is, by nature, unfathomable, mysterious, and ever incomprehensible to the human intellect.
Ego Eimi is a book about the importance of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It tells the reader why it matters. It tells of our reliance upon Him, and of how through Communion He intends to bring us to our final judgment by which He will reveal to each of us our true identity.
The casual reader might face certain segments where the material seems dense or particular. Yet, the merits of reading Ego Eimi — that might come to fruition in further meditation and contemplation — make it worthwhile, nevertheless.
With the USCCB’s National Eucharistic Revival set to begin this June on the Feast of Corpus Christi, Ego Eimi makes for a timely read exploring the timeless and immutable truths of the Bread of Life: Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.