“Taking one of the stones at the shrine, he put it under his head
and lay down to sleep at that spot.” (Genesis 28:11)
Saint Jerome offers the following insight on these verses from today’s First Reading:
“When Jacob was in flight from his brother, in Mesopotamia he came to Luza, and there to rest, Scripture says, he placed a stone under his head. The stone under his head was Christ. Never before had he put a stone under his head; only at the time when he was escaping from his persecutor. When he was in his father’s house, and as long as he was in his father’s house and enjoyed the comforts of the flesh, he had no stone at his head. He departed from his home, poor and alone; he left with only a staff, and immediately that very night he found a stone and placed it at his head. Because he had a pillow of that kind upon which to rest his head, think of the vision he saw. “He dreamed that a ladder was set up on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; angels were ascending and descending on it.” He saw angels descend from heaven to earth and others ascend from earth to heaven. Would you know that the stone at Jacob’s head was Christ, the cornerstone? “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” That is the stone that is called Ebenezer in the Book of Samuel. That stone is Christ. The name Ebenezer, moreover, means “the Stone of Help.” “Jacob woke from his sleep,” Scripture says, and what did he say? “This is the house of God.” What did he do? “He poured oil over the stone.” Unless we penetrate the spiritual mystery of holy Scripture, what reason is there that he should anoint the stone?” (Homilies on the Psalms, 46)
Collect
O God,
Who in the abasement of Your Son
have raised up a fallen world,
fill Your faithful with holy joy,
for on those You have rescued
from slavery to sin
You bestow eternal gladness.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Who in the abasement of Your Son
have raised up a fallen world,
fill Your faithful with holy joy,
for on those You have rescued
from slavery to sin
You bestow eternal gladness.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
