Category: Le Sillon
Peter Maurin, Le Sillon, Cardijn and the YCW
In September 2024, I had the privilege and pleasure of taking part in what was billed as the first ever Peter Maurin Conference.
Georges Abrassart, a Belgian Sillonist priest
Born in 1883, Georges Abrassart was a Belgian priest credited by Henri Tonnet as being responsible for “forming the soul and spirit” of his brother, lay co-founder of the YCW, Fernand Tonnet.
Marc Sangnier, the Sillon and the YCW
My presentation for the 150th anniversary of the birth of Marc Sangnier.
Updated Jocist anniversaries 2023
We’re still at the beginning of 2023 but I’ve already missed one big jocist anniversary – the 150th anniversary of the birth of St Therese of Lisieux, patron saint of the YCW – so time to get to work.
See, judge, act… with the Laymen’s League of New York
In 1911, the Laymen’s League of New York organised social study groups using an early form of the see-judge-act.
Cardijn and Pax Romana: 1921 – 2021
Although it’s mostly forgotten now, Cardijn was an active member of the Catholic intellectual movement, Pax Romana ICMICA.
Postcript: Marc Sangnier, Le Sillon and Thérèse of Lisieux
Here’s a nice postscript to my previous post on “Therese of Lisieux: Pius XI, Cardijn, the JOC – and the Sillon” thanks to French researcher, Dominique Laxague.
Therese of Lisieux: Pius XI, Cardijn, the JOC – and the Sillon
UNESCO plans to honour St Therese of Lisieux, the young French Carmelite nun and author of the spiritual classic, “The Story of Soul,” in its list of 60 personalities for its 2022-23 biennial program.
Young Léon Ollé-Laprune
Today, I’d just like to share a “new” or in fact very old photo of French philosopher, Léon Ollé-Laprune (above top left), that I have “found” on the web.
RIP Jean-Michel Cadiot, Sillonist
Just a brief note today to remember my French journalist friend, Jean-Michel Cadiot, who died in Paris yesterday following heart surgery.
Marc Sangnier – 70 years
I can’t let today pass without mentioning that it is the 70th anniversary of the death of Marc Sangnier, founder of the French movement, Le Sillon, and who died on Pentecost Sunday, 28 May, 1950.
Two pioneers: Etienne Isabelle and Victoire Cappe
In my library I’m pleased to have Etienne Isabelle’s copy of a 1906 book by Marc Sangnier, La Vie Profonde, which I found in a Paris bookshop some years ago.
The Crypt at Stanislas College: Friendship and facts
Here are a couple of great articles on the origins of The Crypt, the group of students from Stanislas College, Paris, whose work eventually blossomed into the movement known as Le Sillon.
80th anniversary of the JOC Internationale
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the first International Congress held in Brussels from 25-29 August 1935.
The ‘communal soul’ of the Sillon and the JOC
“Nous voulons nous faire une âme commune” – “We want to develop among ourselves a communal soul.” This was another of the famous sayings of Marc Sangnier that was later picked up by Cardijn and the JOC.
The Holy Cross Fathers: From Lamennais to Vatican II
Among the Vatican II bishops who were close to Cardijn was the Panamian Archbishop Marcos McGrath
See Judge Act or Harvard Business School?
“What’s happening within the synod is we’re seeing a more inductive way of reflecting, starting from the true situation of people and trying to figure out what’s going on here,” said Archbishop Paul-André Durocher of Gatineau
Henry du Roure, role model for the early YCW
One hundred years today since the combat death near Flirey in north-eastern France of Henry du Roure, the former secretary-general of the Sillon movement, who became a role model, for Fernand Tonnet and other early YCW fulltime organisers.
Bautain: Conscience and responsibility
For many years I have been wondering about and looking for the source(s) of the Sillon definition of democracy as the system of social organisation that tends to maximise the conscience/consciousness and the responsibility of each person.
The roots of the Suenens-Cardijn conflict
We have seen previously that Suenens-Cardijn tensions date back at least to 1953 when Suenens wrote to Legion of Mary founder Frank Duff reacting to what he interpreted as Cardijn’s criticism of the Legion of Mary.
Lamennais, Le Sillon and serendipity
Every time that I google the French movement, Le Sillon, inevitably and sometimes annoyingly, I come across references to another Sillon, namely the wave battered beachfront at St Malo, in Brittany, France.
