Leo was received into the Franciscan order on January 1, 1850. While in the Order, Leo’s collegiate studies took place at St. Isidore’s College in Rome (an Irish College where Leo learned English). At St. Isidore’s, Leo studied under Father Pamfilus da Magliano’s, a pius man who would eventually immigrate to Alleghany, New York. (It was with Pope Pius IX’s blessing that Leo’s teacher, Father Pamhilus da Magliano, would leave St. Isidore’s Colege and begin his missionary journey to America. It was in Alleghany, New York where Father Magliano established and was the first president of St. Bonnaventure University. Father Leo was the University’s sixth president.)