Next day Andrew sought the Church of the Carmelites, and kneeling before an image of the Holy Virgin, wept bitterly over his past life, which now appeared to him in all its bare deformity. And he felt so powerfully called by the grace of God, that he resolved at once to take refuge from his evil companions and associations, in the cloister. He, therefore, sought the convent door that same hour, and asked to be admitted as a novice. He was received, and spent his novitiate in constant battle with his passions, and in trampling out the memory of the past, by not suffering his mind for a moment to repose on the thoughts of the evil he had done, save only for the purpose of stirring up compunction, and abasing himself in profound humility. After having been received into the Order, he became a model of self-restraint and earnestness, so that in the year 1328, at the age of twenty-six, he was ordained priest. He was shortly after appointed to preach in Florence; and his fervour and love for sinners produced very astonishing fruit, in moving many who had lived in sin to turn in sorrow to the cross, and renounce their evil ways. Andrew was next sent to Paris, there to prosecute his studies, and was there invested with the degree of doctor; and after he had completed his studies with Cardinal Corsini, his uncle, at Avignon, he returned to Florence, where he was elected prior of his cloister. His renown as a preacher of righteousness prevailed again, and his sermons produced such an effect, that he was regarded as the apostle of the land. After the death of the bishop of Fiesole, the chapter elected Andrew Corsini to be his successor. But when the news of his election reached him, he fled away, and hid himself in a Carthusian monastery. He was sought for long in every direction, without result, and the chapter, despairing of finding him, were proceeding with the election of another, in his room, when a child cried out "He who is to be our bishop is praying in the Carthusian monastery." He was there sought, and Andrew recognising in this the will of God, yielded, and, in 1360, was consecrated bishop of Fiesole.