The Antonine cloistered nuns of the Antonin Order existing in Lebanon at the very beginning of the 18th century are at the origin of our Antonine Sisters’ Congregation which became apostolic in 1940. Mother Isabelle Khoury (1878-1953) of Jezzine, Lebanon-South, was the source of the apostolic vital impulse for to devote herself to the service of the men and women of her time.
The Antonin Order of Saint Isaïe is founded, the 15th of August 1700, at the convent of on the Arant Mount at Broumana, by the bishop Mgr Gabriel Bluzene. The Constitutions and the rule of the Antonin Monks and the Antonine Nuns were approved by the Pope Clement XII, on the 17th of January 1740 by “Misericordiarum Pater”.
After several displacements between the convents of St Peter and St Paul-Kattine, St Anthony-Baabda, N.D.-Bkerke and St Simon-Baskinta, The Antonine Nuns are definitely established in two monastries: Saint Elias-Ghazir in 1748 et Saint Anthony-Jezzine in 1774.
On May 10, 1932, Mother Isabelle Khoury and Sister Myriam Aoun, at their request and approved by the general council of the Antonin Order, left the monastery of Saint Antoine de Padoue of Jezzine to settle in the convent of Mar Doumith at Roumieh-Metn which became the Mother House of the Antonine Sisters.
The 10th of April 1940, the Antonine Nuns are authorized to begin an apostolic life out of the convent.
