 Errico first felt compelled to enter the priesthood after he turned fourteen and he received permission from his parents to pursue that vocation.He had his sights set on either entering the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (since two cousins were friars) or the Redemptorists but both rejected his application on the basis of his age.But he was not dejected due to this experience and instead focused on his ecclesial studies that he began in Naples in January 1808 (also receiving the clerical cassock for the first time); he had to walk five miles from home to get to class since he was not living on Naples due to his parents' meagre income not providing for this.