One of the most beautiful passages in Victor Hugo's monumental work Les Miserables is the moment the released convict Jean Valjean enters the bedroom of the kind Bishop Bienvenu to steal the bishop's silverware. Jean is observing the cleric sleeping soundly when a burst of moonlight illuminates his face. In the author's own words, the bishop's entire countenance "was lit up with a vague expression of content, hope and happiness" that was "more than a smile and almost a radiance."
Notwithstanding Bienvenu's hospitality, Jean runs off with the silver. The following morning, Jean Valjean is apprehended and brought back by the local police. But the bishop insists that it is all a mistake, and that he really gave the silver to the suspect. After the policemen leave, an astonished and trembling Jean is handed over more silver by Bienvenu. It is an act of supreme kindness that baffles Jean.
Then the bishop speaks: "My brother, you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from perdition, and I give it to God!" From that time on, Jean Valjean becomes a changed man. The kind cleric has shown him the power of faith.
Have you ever encountered a person with a countenance like the kind bishop's? A life in constant communion with God can create such a wonderful, wonderful radiance.