He was received into the novitiate of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Calvary House (French: Maison du Calvaire) in Marseilles, on the following 31 October.
He spent some of his time preaching retreats in the parishes, convents, and colleges of the Montreal region; in addition he worked hard to establish temperance societies and the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, a community of pious women.
In addition to undertaking ministry in the chapel, which was open to the public, and preaching, he supervised the construction of the Church of Saint-Pierre-Apôtre attached to their residence, one of the tallest structures of its day.
[1] Enjoying Bourget’s confidence, he accompanied the bishop to the first Provincial Council of the Ecclesiastical Province of Quebec in 1851 as a peritus (expert in theology).
Not long after his arrival in Galveston, however, there was an outbreak of yellow fever the local doctor advised him to leave the area where the epidemic was raging, but he refused, being determined to remain at his post.