As a teenager, he acquired good education, studying at a Franciscan school in Kraków, and joining the order in 1603.
Dębołęcki spent two years in Italy: on his way back, he stopped at Olomouc, creating the Association of Christian Soldiers.
[2] In 1621 - 1622, Dębołęcki served as a chaplain of the Lisowczycy, a legendary light cavalry unit, which at that time was under the service of the Holy Roman Emperor in the Thirty Years' War.
He fought with them in Hungary, and after the dissolution of the force, went to Rome to continue studies and achieve a doctorate in theology (1623-1625).
In 1626, Dębołęcki settled in Kamieniec Podolski, where he founded an organization which purchased prisoners from Muslim hands.