Delivering his opening address to the 1913 French Social Week (Semaine Sociale), Bishop Charles Gibier of Versailles, the host diocese, exhorted the more than 1,000 participants “to see clearly, walk straight and understand well in order to act well.”
Here is his original phrasing in French:
“O mon Dieu, nous sommes vos serviteurs, “servus tuus sum, da mihi intellectum,” accordez-nous la grâce de voir clair et de marcher droit, de bien comprendre pour bien agir.”
The Latin quote “servus tuus sum de mihi intellectum” taken from the Psalm 118 of the Vulgate, means “I am your servant: give me understanding.”
Thus, in English translation:
“O my God, we are your servants, “I am your servant: give me understanding,” grant us the grace to see clearly and walk straight, to understand well in order to act well.”
Note the date of the Semaine Sociale, i.e. August 1913, some twelve years before the emerging JOC would first articulate its iconic “see, judge, act” method.
But as well as foreshadowing the see-judge-act, I believe that Bishop Gibier, was also echoing Léon Ollé-Laprune, who I’ve often referred to as the philosophical father of the see-judge-act, and who had written in 1896 that:
« Chacun doit s’appliquer plus que jamais, mieux que jamais, à consulter courageusement et fidèlement les principes et les faits pour se rendre plus que jamais, mieux que jamais, capable de voir clair, de juger et de conclure, précisément parce que ce n’est guère plus la mode. »
Translation:
“Everyone must apply themselves more than ever, better than ever, to courageously and faithfully consult the principles and the facts in order to become more than ever, better than ever able to see clearly, judge clearly and conclude, precisely because it no longer fashionable to do so.”
This year as we celebrate the centenary of the YCW and also the see-judge-act, let’s remember Bishop Gibier, another of those precursors on whose giant shoulders Cardijn stood.
SOURCE
Charles Gibier (Wikipedia.fr)
See, Judge and Conclude with Léon Ollé-Laprune (Cardijn Research)
Léon Ollé-Laprune & the origin of the See-Judge-Act (Cardijn Research)
Extracts from Bishop Gibier’s talk
