Their first long conversation made it plain to the bishop that the young man had very little need of further preliminary instruction, and it was settled that conditional baptism should be administered to him within a fortnight.
That the nature of Isaac Hecker's vocation also revealed itself to this prudent adviser is also evident from this entry, made in the diary as soon as the visit was ended: "He said that my life would lead me to contemplation, and that in this country the Church was so situated as to require them all to be active.

I did not speak further on this subject with him.

He asked whether I felt like devoting myself to the order of the priesthood, and undergoing their discipline, self-denial, etc., and becoming a missionary.

I answered that all I could say was that I wished to live the life given me, and felt like sacrificing all things to this; but could not say that the priesthood would be the proper place for me.
"I feel that if, for a certain length of time, and under the discipline of the Church, I could have the conditions for leading the life of contemplation, it would be what the Spirit now demands.
Whether I shall not be compelled back to this if I attempt to follow some other way, I am not perfectly sure.

The bishop intimated that in Europe there were brotherhoods congenial to the state of mind that I am in.