Carmelite Chronicles
Audet’s Visitations of Italy

After the reforms of the general chapter, Audet set out on visitation to implement its decrees.

The years 1524 to 1527 he spent visiting Italy. In the North, he visited Venice, Romagna, Tuscany, and Lombardy. He had no luck trying to tame the Carmine of Florence. He visited the province of Naples (Terra di Lavoro) and perhaps Puglia. He had his greatest success in Sicily. At the provincial chapter of Catania, 1527, Trapani, Palermo, Sciacca, Siracusa, Catania, and Messina are designated as reformed.

Audet was occupied with this chapter when the sack of Rome began, May 1, 1527. Traspontina, situated within the fortifications of Castel Sant’Angelo, was temporarily spared, but San Martino felt the full fury of the invasion. During the siege of the castle, Traspontina had hindered the deployment of the artillery, so Clement VII began to press the Carmelites to move, but the prior general managed to have a final decision deferred. Later, Audet renovated the convent and established a flourishing studium, where he spent the last decade of his life.
From The Mirror of Carmel by Joachim Smet, O. Carm.