1 Samuel 7:12

For we may be sure that the very aim of those who pass over [from Israelite to Christian] is transformed from the old to the new, so that the aim of each is no longer the attainment of material felicity but spiritual happiness. That explains the action of the great prophet Samuel himself, before he had anointed King Saul.Samuel cried out to the Lord on behalf of Israel, and God heard him; and when he offered a whole burnt offering, and the foreigners approached to do battle with the people of God, the Lord thundered over them, and they were thrown into confusion and panic as they faced Israel, and so they were overcome. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between the old and the new Mizpah and gave it the name Ebenezer, which means "the stone of the helper." And he said, "So far the Lord has helped us." Now Mizpah means "aim." That "stone of the helper" is the mediation of the Savior, through whom we must pass over from the old Mizpah to the new, that is, from the aim which looked for material bliss—a false bliss, in a material kingdom—to the aim which looks for spiritual bliss, the really true bliss, in the kingdom of heaven. And since there is nothing better than this, God helps us "so far."

22. In sacred Scripture, a stone signifies our Lord and Redeemer. A single stone is taken up by Samuel when the strength of the Redeemer is uniquely proclaimed by the preacher of Holy Church. This stone is indeed set up between Mizpah and Sen, because at the departure of life it protects the elect and crushes the reprobate. For Sen means "shaking off." The reprobate have been shaken off, that is, separated from the fellowship of the faithful. Therefore, while the Philistines are said to have been struck down all the way to the place below Beth-car, the stone is declared to have been set up between Sen and Mizpah: because when God's elect receive the trophy of their victory at the end, they are separated from the company of the wicked by the judgment of the Redeemer. But now, like wheat and chaff together on the threshing floor, we are mixed together; yet when we are brought to the end of life, the elect are divided from the reprobate by the Lord's power, and they have, as it were, a stone placed between them, since the reprobate bear the weight of the Redeemer in the judgment of their condemnation, while the elect hold the palms of eternal glory in his strength. By Sen, evil spirits can also be designated. For they have been shaken off, because they were cast out from the heavenly sanctuary through pride. And because they now wage war against us in this life, fittingly when the time of our victory is declared, the stone is said to be placed between us and them: because when we receive the rewards of our warfare, their battles are never again renewed against us. Moreover, Samuel places this stone in their midst, because the teacher of Holy Church shows us the goodness of our Redeemer. […]

And Samuel took a stone, etc. And indeed we read above of the stone of help, which in Hebrew is called Ebenezer; but there the historian anticipated, whereas here he expresses both the time and the cause of the name being given; which, as a …

The place where this memorial was set up was the same where, twenty years before, the Israelites were smitten before the Philistines, for that was beside Eben-ezer, ch. iv. The sin which procured that defeat formerly being pardoned upon their repentance, the pardon was sealed by this glorious victory in the very same place where they then suffered loss; see Hos. i.

A stone - A rude unpolished stone, which was not prohibited by that law, Lev. xxvi, 1, there being no danger of worshipping such a stone, and this being set up only as a monument of the victory. Eben-ezer - That is, the stone of help. And this victory was gained in the very same place where the Israelites received their former fatal loss.