Carmelite friars. In 1832 he relinquished his scholarship to enter that Order. Discalced Carmelite friar Palau entered the Carmelite Priory of St. Joseph in Barcelona on 23 October 1832, and on the following 14 November he was given the religious habit of the Order and the religious name of Francisco of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. He professed solemn religious vows in the Discalced Carmelite Order on 15 November 1833. This was at a time when religious persecution was beginning in Spain as a result of the First Carlist War. He was aware of the situation but courageous, and he never retracted his option. He continued his studies of theology at the Barcelona priory. On 25 July 1835, Barcelona succumbed to rioting, which included the burning of convents and monasteries. St. Joseph Priory was one of those burned down. Dragged from the house by the revolutionary forces, he was arrested by them. Hermit and missionary The Spanish government abolished religious communities at that point and Palau continued his life of asceticism in his hometown, where he alternated between solitude and apostolic activities. At the time he was still a deacon, but he maintained contact with his Provincial Prior, who prepared him at a distance for ordination as a priest. This was done by the Bishop of Barbastro on 2 April 1836. Still unable to live in community, his first charge in his ministry was as an itinerant preacher. In 1837, the city of Berga became the center of the Carlist forces and Palau settled there. Due both to his popularity and conflict with Church authorities, however, the government there briefly denied him a license to hear confessions and conduct religious services. The young priest began to wander the rural regions of Catalonia and Aragon, preaching the faith and hoping to restore enthusiasm for the Catholic faith among the local populace. He would also spend periods of solitude living in the caves of the region, in the pattern of the Desert Fathers. In 1840 his efforts caused him to be named an Apostolic Missionary in the various dioceses of the region. Exile By July 1840 the royalist forces in Berga had been overwhelmed by their opponents. Palau felt that his religious activities would mark him with the Liberal authorities, so on 21 July he decided to cross the Pyrenees to live in exile in France. Palau initially settled in Perpignan, later moving