Charles of St Andrew, Blessed Father (1821–93), priest, was born John Andrew Houban 11 December 1821 in the province of Limburg, the Netherlands, fifth child among five sons and four daughters of Peter Joseph Houban, miller, and Jane Elizabeth Houban (née Luyten). At an early age he became a member of the Confraternity of the Christian Doctrine. Educated in the college of Sittard, he was conscripted (1840) into the army, where his military career was short and undistinguished; released from service, he entered the priesthood in 1845. From 8 December 1845, when he was clothed in the Holy Order of the Passionists, he was known only as Brother Charles of St Andrew. Ordained a priest 21 December 1850, he was sent to England and never returned to the Netherlands. He served first at Aston, and in 1854 was appointed vice-master at St Wilfred's, Staffordshire.
Fr Charles's Irish involvement began in 1857 when he was sent to Mount Argus, near Harold's Cross in Dublin. He threw himself energetically into the work of the Passionist community, and was responsible for the completion of St Paul's Retreat, which was blessed and opened by Archbishop Paul Cullen (qv) in 1863. Fr Charles is also credited with making Mount Argus an important, respected community, and large numbers visited to hear his sermons, even though they were delivered in a strong accent, with weak grammar and syntax. Establishing an international reputation as a man of piety, his deeds spread throughout the world, although he was censured by the medical profession for not advising the ill to seek non-divine attention.
Fr Charles imposed a severe daily routine on his life: he rose at 2 a.m. for matins, and remained praying till 6 a.m. A devout man, he was known to cry during passages of the Sacred Passion. He was also a strong believer in mortification. Considered a living saint, he attracted many pilgrimages; soon miracles, particularly involving blindness, were attributed to him. J. J. Byrne, a boy whose blindness was cured in this way, later became a Carmelite priest. Fr Charles considered himself a failure, however, for not being a good preacher. His lifelong regret was that he was unable to lead the conversion of his native country.
On 3 July 1866 he returned to England and served in various retreats until his return to Mount Argus on 10 January 1874. He became ill in 1884, and was in poor health for the remainder of his life. He died 5 January 1893, and was buried four days later at Mount Argus cemetery, where his funeral was attended by an exceptional number of mourners. The attributed miracles continued after his death, and in 1935 Pope Pius XI established an apostolic commission to examine his life. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 16 October 1988.