Blessed Charles, who spent almost 30 years in Dublin, is to be canonised tomorrow. What made this Passionist priest special, asks Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent
'Dublin to get new saint" announced Evening Herald posters on the capital's streets last Tuesday. But, before you could say "Matt Talbot", it was clear the relevant saint wasn't even Irish, never mind a Dubliner.
But then, what is a Dubliner?
John Andrew Houben was a Dutchman who arrived in Dublin 150 years ago, on July 9th, 1857, and spent 28 years in the city as a Passionist priest.
Such was his fame as holy man and healer that following his death at Mount Argus, in Harold's Cross, in January 1893, his funeral was said to have been bigger than that of Charles Stewart Parnell, which had taken place two years beforehand.
His grave became a place of pilgrimage and in 1949 his remains were moved inside the church at Mount Argus, where his shrine became a place of prayer. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988 and, last February, the Vatican announced he would be canonised tomorrow.
It would be fair to say that prior to last February most Dubliners, and certainly most Irish people, had never heard of this man. As with a better-known saint, Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, he began his career in the military.
"Blessed Charles", as he has been known since 1988, was born on December 11th, 1821, in the village of Munstergeleen in the Netherlands. He was the fourth of 11 children born to Johanna and Peter Houben, who worked in a flour mill.
JOHN ANDREW WAS a shy, pious, friendly child who found study difficult. In 1840, at 19, he joined the army but over the following five years saw active service for just three months. He was not an exceptional soldier. While in the army he heard of the Passionists and, leaving the army in 1845, joined them at Ere in Belgium.
He was ordained on December 21st, 1850 in Tournai. In February 1852 he was sent to England and never saw the Netherlands again. While in England he came into contact with Irish people who had emigrated there following the Famine. He was transferred to Ireland in 1857, arriving at the newly-founded Passionist monastery of Mount Argus. Dublin was a much smaller place than it is now, with a population of less than a quarter of a million.
Fr Charles was not a good preacher and always had problems with English, but he excelled in the confessional and in comforting the sick. He soon became remarkably popular, not only in Dublin but all over Ireland. He was noted for his gift of healing. Upwards of 300 people a day came to be blessed by him. One story recounted at the time concerned a boy of 12 who had lost the use of his leg. He went to see Fr Charles and shortly afterwards was cured.
As is usual with fame, trouble was not far behind. In his case it began with the medical profession. Then, as now, assiduous in protecting their interests, some doctors claimed he was discouraging sick people from seeking their assistance. They complained to the then Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Paul Cullen, and wrote to the papers alleging Fr Charles was telling sick people they had no need of a doctor. (The doctors later withdrew this charge.)
Others began to sell holy water blessed by Fr Charles throughout Ireland. The upshot of all this was that, in 1866, Fr Charles was transferred by his superiors to England and remained there for eight years.
He returned to Ireland in January 1874, and stayed for the remaining 19 years of his life. The daily pilgrimages to see him began again almost immediately. He travelled all over Dublin and around the country blessing people. Among those he blessed was six-year-old John Patterson, who had been blinded by flying stones. Cured by Fr Charles, the first thing he saw was the priest with his arms outstretched.
DURING THE LAST years of his life, Fr Charles was plagued by bad health. He said his last Mass on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th, 1892. Word of his decline spread and crowds gathered at Mount Argus. At 5.30am on January 5th, 1893, he died. His body was brought to the church in Mount Argus and he lay in state for five days.
Despite heavy snow, thousands filed past his coffin. Thousands more attended his funeral and his remains were laid to rest in the cemetery beside Mount Argus church.
He was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II in 1979. The cure of a Dutch woman, Octavia Spaetgens Verhegge, who had a large inoperable growth in her stomach, led to his beatification by the pope in 1988.
The second miracle, confirmation of which paved the way for his canonisation, took place in Charles's home village of Munstergeleen, in 1999. Dolf Dormans had a ruptured appendix. He entrusted himself to the care of Blessed Charles when surgery exposed porous intestines and his family were told nothing could be done for him.
Dormans recovered. Subsequent surgery revealed his intestines had healed naturally. He is to attend the canonisation tomorrow with about 500 other Dutch people.
Among the 600 Irish people there will be the President, Mary McAleese, the Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy, the Garda chaplain Fr Joe Kennedy, who is a Passionist priest, and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin who, as Archbishop of Dublin, has been the "actor" in the cause of Blessed Charles. The guests will also include Passionist priests from the community in Harold's Cross and from Scotland, part of the same Passionist province as Ireland.
On Tuesday, An Post will issue a 55 cent stamp to mark the canonisation, which will feature a portrait of St Charles by James Hanley.