 During this period Stanyhurst gained a reputation as an eloquent preacher in English, Dutch and Latin, and as a discerning confessor.In 1654 he was transferred to Antwerp, where he taught at the Irish College while residing in the Professed House, and headed the city's Latin Sodality.During an epidemic in the city in 1657 he insisted on ministering to the afflicted, and contracted the disease himself.