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.