#lectio devina

Hi all, Mod Fantine here! I have been listening to the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text and became inspired to do what Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile do with Harry Potter. Their motto is “Reading fiction doesn’t help us escape the world, it helps us live in it.” I decided it might be interesting to look at Les Miserables in a similar way. 

Victor Hugo said that “To love another person is to see the face of God” and I take this to mean that meaning whether that be through God or other means can be found in what one loves both in a secular and religious sense. 

I want to treat Les Miserables as an academic and sacred text and look at it through various exegeses such as Lectio Devina and Pardes.

This exercise will in some ways be like Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. We will go chapter by chapter with a brief summary of each chapter (or maybe not depending on how Hugo wants to be). I will pick out one sentence either at random of purposefully and then use the given exegesis method for that week on that sentence. I hope we can all glean a little more from the text and musical that we all love so dearly.

I will be using this edition if you would like to follow along.

A little background about me is that I am an English major with a double minor in Film and Religious studies (the perfect brew to over-analyze everything!). I was introduced to these methods both through the podcast and my amazing professors. If I got something wrong with these methods, do tell me! I am seeking to learn. 

John the Baptist did not live long enough to witness the fulfillment of the promise of yahweh. He had, however, the privilege of experiencing the fruit of salvation that Christ would bring about by his death and Resurrection "in utero" or from the womb of when the pregnant Madonna (Mary) visited his mother elizabeth, he received the spirit and jumped for joy! This is why truly there is? No one greater than John the Baptist" among the sons of women.

In the second book of Samuel, David expressed his desire to build a Temple for God that would house the precious ark of the covenant, but God told him it would be his son who would build the temple. The real temple of God though will be mary, the mother of Jesus who is honored with the title "Ark of the covenant!" Thus, the Archangel Gabriel announced to marry the good news: "Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you...for you shall conceive the Son of God!"

The ark of the covenant of the Old testament was kept in the holy of holies. It contained The ten commandments, the rod of moses, the staff of aaron, and bread. Mary, chosen by God from eternity, will carry in her room the most holy Son of God! How awesome this mystery! The promise of God in the Old testament is fulfilled in the New testament with the cooperation of Mary, the true "Ark of the covenant!" The first Temple of God is none other than Mary!

One of the most beautiful prayers is certainly "The Hail Mary!" It's not only a very biblical prayer but it is the prayer of no less than the Archangel Gabriel who stands in the Holy presence of god. When, therefore, we pray the Ave Maria when I Rose repeats we pray like the angels and with the angels! How blessed and privileged are we!

Reflect: Movies and television love to highlight the realities of hell and evil in people and societies. we agree that such realities are around us - people are killed, children are abandoned, countries are at War, and many more circumstances making us think that we are already in hell. In fact, it already shocks us when we hear of a taxi driver handing in lots of money left by a passenger or policeman being honest. Still, there are more acts of Good deed that do not come headlines. There is more heaven and goodness in people and this world.

Pray: Pray for those who have influence over other people's perception - political leaders, media people, educators, religious workers iPhone did they promote and work for the good in people and communities.