He was himself the novitiate.

Its austerities, and they were not trifling, its long and frequent prayer, its total seclusion from the world, all were refined and adjusted to each one by passing through his soul and being dispensed by his wisdom.

Father Hecker regarded him as a very remarkable man.

He was a student of character, and wise and sagacious in varying the application of religious influences according to temperament and spiritual gifts.

Under him the danger of formalism, which occurs to one's mind immediately as the incessant round of exercises is mentioned, was rendered remote; for he gave his instructions, and especially used the chapter of faults, in a way to infuse into the souls of the novices the ever-recurring freshness of individual initiative.