Today, July 24, is the memorial of Blessed John Soreth.
Reformer and Prior General of the Order of Carmelites.
John Soreth was born in France in 1394 and joined the Carmelite Order. Ordained priest around 1417, he became a doctor of theology in Paris in 1438 and then regent of studies there. He was Provincial of the French Province from 1440-1451 and Prior General of the Order from 1451 until his death.
He was an energetic reformer, especially during the critical period for both the Church and the Order. He traveled across Europe, made canonical visitations, and promoted a more faithful observance of religious life both in the older Provinces and convents and in the Mantuan Reformed Congregation. He wrote a commentary on the Rule, his Expositio paranetica, and published new revised Constitutions in 1462.
He pushed for the establishment of the Carmelite nuns and the development of the Lay Carmelite Third Order, especially following the papal bull “Cum Nulla” of Pope Nicholas V issued in 1452. In particular, he supported the foundations in Northern Europe made by Blessed Frances d’Amboise, whom he himself clothed in the Carmelite habit.
John died of natural causes in 1471. He was beatified in 1866 by Blessed Pope Pius IX.