Vigils Reading

THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE

From a commentary by St Augustine

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Jacob the Patriarch set a stone under his head and while he slept he saw

the heavens open and a ladder stretching from heaven to earth, and angels

ascending and descending. After seeing this, he woke up, anointed the stone,

and departed. In this stone he understood Christ, that is why he anointed it. And

this was done symbolically, and then he left. For he did not anoint the stone, and

keep going back there to worship, and to offer sacrifices there.

What happened was this: expression was given to a mystery. Take a look

at the stone: The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief

cornerstone. And it is because Christ is the head of man that the stone is placed

at the head. Take note of this great symbol: the stone is Christ. A living stone,

says Peter, rejected by mankind, but chosen by God. And the stone is at the

head, because Christ is the head of the man. And the stone is anointed because

the name Christ derives from anointing.

And as Christ unfolds this picture, a ladder is seen, from earth to heaven,

or from heaven to earth, and angels ascending and descending. What this is all

about we shall see better when we have look at the Lord’s words in the Gospel.

You know that Jacob himself is Israel. When the Lord saw Nathaniel in the

Gospel, he said: Behold, here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile. This is

the sort of language that was used about Jacob himself: And Jacob was free from

guile and he lived at home. The Lord called Nathaniel an Israelite in whom there

was no guile because of Jacob.

And Nathaniel said: How do you know me? And the Lord said: When you

were beneath the fig tree I saw you. This means, when you were within the

Jewish people and under the Law, which covered over that people with a bodily

shadow, that is where I saw you. And Nathaniel made his confession and said:

You are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel. And the Lord said: It is

because I saw you under the fig tree that you have believed. You shall see things

greater than these. He is speaking with Israel, with Jacob, with the one who

placed a stone under his head.

What greater things? The fact that already that stone is by the head: Truly

I tell you, you shall see the heavens open, and the angels of God ascending and

descending on the Son of Man. Let God’s angels ascend and descend on that

ladder. Let this happen in the Church. God’s angels are heralds of the truth, let

them ascend and see: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with

God, and God was the Word. Let the angels descend and see that, The Word

became flesh and dwelt among us.