St. Charles of Mount Argus
Posted on January 12, 2019 by admin No comments
Born: 11 December 1821 Munstergeleen, Limburg, United Kingdom of the Netherlands
Died: 5 January 1893 Mount Argus Monastery, Harold’s Cross, Dublin
Venerated: in Roman Catholic Church (Passionists and Ireland)
Beatified: 16 October 1988, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Canonized: 3 June 2007, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI
Major shrine: Mount Argus Monastery, Harold’s Cross, Dublin, Ireland
Feast: January 5
Charles of Mount Argus, C.P. (11 December 1821 – January 1893), was a Dutch Passionist priest who served in 19th-century Ireland. He gained a reputation for his compassion for the sick and those in need of guidance. His reputation for healings was so great at the time that a reference is made to him in the famous novel Ulysses by James Joyce. He has been canonized by the Catholic Church. His feast day is January 5.
Life
He was born Joannes Andreas Houben on 11 December 1821 in the village of Munstergeleen in the Province of Limburg in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, to Peter Joseph Houben and his wife, Johanna Elizabeth Luyten. He was named after his maternal uncle and godfather, but to the family he was known as Andrew. His father was a miller by trade. As a boy Andrew attended the village primary school. One of 11 children in a poor family, he was a slow learner in his youth. To those outside his family he seemed quiet and extremely shy. A slow learner, for ten years he walked the two miles to a secondary school at nearby town of Sittard.
When Houben was 19 years old he was enrolled for military service in the First Infantry Regiment of the Netherlands. It is said that on occasion during his time as a soldier there was a disturbance in the town; the army were called out and ordered to fire. Afraid that he might hit someone, Andrew pointed his rifle the wrong way and narrowly missed shooting his superior officer. On 18 February 1845 his period as a reserve in the army came to an end and he was formally discharged.
Passionist
Feeling called to religious life, in 1845 Houben was admitted to the novitiate of the Passionists, who had recently arrived in Belgium, in the village of Ere, near Tournai. He professed his religious vows the following year and was given the religious habit and the religious name of Charles of St. Andrew. His father died in 1850, just before Charles’ ordination as a priest. The family were so poor they could not afford to go to his ordination because of the expenses of the funeral. Even happy days were lonely days. He was sent to serve in England in 1852. He did parochial ministry in the Parish of St. Wilfred and neighboring areas. Serving there, Charles first came in contact with the Irish who were moving to England in the wake of the devastating famine taking place there.
In July 1857 Charles was transferred to Ireland to the newly founded monastery of Mount Argus, in Harold’s Cross, Dublin. Traditionally Passionists are supposed to conduct missions and retreats and, through preaching, spread devotion to the Passion of Christ. Charles was not a good preacher. He never really mastered the English language, but it was in the confessional and in comforting the sick that he excelled, and he became fond of the Irish people.[6] In community he was cheerful and often was heard humming the Dutch national anthem as he walked around the house.
Healer
It was Charles’ gift of healing the sick which is most clearly remembered. Another member of the Passionist community in Dublin, Sebastian Keens, C.P., told of a 12-year-old boy who had lost the use of his leg and was brought to him. Without delay he called Charles and shortly afterwards found the boy walking up and down in front of the house completely cured. He became so popular with the people that the diocesan authorities, as well as the medical profession, grew suspicious of him. Some medical doctors complained to Cardinal Cullen, the Archbishop of Dublin, that he discouraged people from going to the doctor, a claim later retracted.
Unscrupulous persons took holy water blessed by Charles and unbeknownst to him began to sell it throughout Ireland. In order to discourage this practice, Charles was transferred back to England in 1866 and remained there for eight years.
Charles returned to Dublin in 1874. A trap in which he was traveling overturned near St Clare’s Convent at Harold’s Cross, causing a fracture which never set right. He remained in Dublin until his death that took place at dawn on 5 January 1893.
Veneration
At his funeral, attended by people from all of Ireland, there was definite proof of the popular devotion that had surrounded him throughout his life. The Superior of the monastery wrote to his family: “The people have already declared him a saint.”
The cause for Charles’ canonization was introduced on 13 November 1935. After the declaration of a miracle attributed to his intercession, on 16 October 1988, Pope John Paul II beatified the man whom everyone called the Saint of Mount Argus. The miracle that led to his canonization was the healing of Adolf Dormans of Munstergeleen, Charles’ birthplace, who was cured of “perforated, gangrenous appendicitis with generalized peritonitis that was multi-organically compromising” and which cure was “not scientifically explainable”. The theologian consultors and the Ordinary Congregation of Cardinals and Bishops gave their unanimous approval of the claimed supernatural aspect of the said alleged healing. Charles was canonized on 3 June 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Prayer to St. Charles of Mount Argus for healing
Saint Charles, you know what it is like to live with sickness and pain. We ask you to intercede for those who are sick. May they know that, in their sickness, the loving hand of God reaches out to them with healing and hope for body and spirit. May they learn to trust God and place their lives in his hands. Amen.
O dear Saint Charles, friend of the Sick, during your life on earth, you were always ready to help those who were ill. Many times you have gone to the bedside of the sick and prayed for them with faith. We ask you now to be close to those who are in need of God’s healing. May Our Lady, Health of the Sick, join you in interceding with the Father on their behalf. Amen.
Prayer of Saint Charles to Our Lady, Mother of Holy Hope
Most Holy Virgin Mary Oh, my Mother! How sweet it is to come to thy feet, imploring thy perpetual help!
If earthly mothers cease not to remember their children, how canst thou, the most loving of all mothers, forget me?
Grant then, to me, I implore thee, thy perpetual help in all my necessities, in every sorrow, and especially in all my temptations.
… I ask for thy unceasing help for all who are now suffering.
Help the weak, cure the sick, convert sinners, ……Obtain for us, dear Mother, that having earnestly invoked thee on earth, we may see thee, love thee, and eternally thank thee hereafter in heaven. Amen.
Mother of Holy Hope, pray for us.
Perpetual Novena of Hope in Honour of St. Charles of Mt. Argus
(Please recite this novena for 9 days)
O God our Father, we thank you for your care of each one of us. Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to share in our weak human nature. He suffered as we do, and He is gone before us to prepare a place for us in Heaven where we hope to be with you forever. He promised to be with us everyday, and to give us all we ask for in His name,
Father, in the name of Jesus we ask you: To give hope to those who have lost hope in God, and who simply don’t know what to believe. Let them Hope again
To give hope to the sick and all who cannot live their lives as they would like to. May they Receive Hope and Healing.
To give hope to parents and teachers who are entrusted with the care of the young. May they never lose heart even when their best efforts meet with failure.
To give hope to sinners.Bring them through repentance to a new way of looking at things.
To give hope to the bereaved who are face to face with death.Let them entrust their loved ones to your care.
(Your special intention for the Novena)
Full us all with a joyful hope Mary, Mother of Hope pray for us
Saint Charles of Mt. Argus, pray for us. Amen.