Before the singing of the final chorus of the musical production of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, Les Miserables, the characters Fantine, Valjean and Eponine, proclaim in song:

Take my hand and lead me to salvation
Take my love, for love is everlasting
And remember the truth that once was spoken:
To love another person is to see the face of God.

Each character had experienced God’s love; they had each had an encounter with God through the love of another person.

Here, it should be remembered that Victor Hugo admired Vincent de Paul and, in his novel, he based the character of the Bishop on Vincent de Paul. We, as members of the Vincentian Family, know that on more than one occasion Vincent spoke about leaving God in order to find God.

– excerpt from a previous .famvin post

Learn more about “leaving God for God” in the presentation below.