Fr. Antoun Bou Antoun
“People call us “Father” (ya Abouna) and it is up to us to truly be a Father figure to the people”
Fr. Antoun was born on 12 October 1933 to Antonious and Tamini in the northern village of Imar in Lebanon. He is the second eldest of a family of four boys and four girls. He went to school in the village but was not able to continue his education so that he could help his father with the work in the village. He recalls that life back in those days was very different. It was very simple and everyone showed much love and respect for one-another. The whole village lived as one family. Fr. Antoun recalls living through the era of World War II. People were afraid that they would die of hunger because the memory of World War I was still implanted in their memories. During these times, the villagers would gather in the house of the village priest and would pray the Rosary.
From a very young age, Antoun would dream of himself in the church flying with the angels and spending his days and nights with them. By the age of 18, he was seriously discerning a vocation to the holy priesthood or to the monastic life. However, his parents did not allow him to leave home and enter the seminary because he had to help his father and eldest brother with the land. Antoun was very upset and being the obedient son, he abided with his parents’ wishes. He was so upset, that he decided to travel to Brazil with a family friend and see if he could make a future for himself. He spent seven years working in Brazil however he could not forget his calling and was determined to come back to Lebanon and to convince his parents to allow him to enter the seminary.
In 1963 on his way back to Lebanon from Brazil, Antoun stopped in Rome. The second Vatican Council was in session and he recalls being lucky enough to attend one of the sessions. He remembers that he pretended to be a helper of one of the priests so that they would let him into St. Peter’s Basilica. When he entered the Basilica, his heart dropped! He thought that he was walking into a church full of saints and angels. No words could describe the joy that he was feeling at that moment. He was hoping for and dreaming about this moment all his life. Antoun remembers getting close to Pope Paul VI and kissing his gown.
When he returned to Lebanon, he was 30 years old. When he went to see the Bishop, he tried to convince him to become a married priest but he refused. Antoun entered the seminary of St. Yaacoub at Karm Sadi. The priests and seminarians were all amazed by how quick he was able to learn theology and philosophy even though he was not very well educated.
Antoun was ordained to the priesthood on 6 March 1976. He stayed in the Bishopric of Tripoli for four years and then came to Australia on 27 November 1980 with Bishop Joubeir (Fr. Paul’s brother). He stayed at Our Lady of Lebanon Church for four years. In 1984, he went back to Lebanon to visit his parents. After his father died, Bishop Abdo Khalife asked him to come back to Australia to serve at Our Lady of Lebanon and he abided by his request.
Fr. Antoun remembers that there was a big need for priests at the time and the people were yearning for the word of God. He recalls giving confession for 5 to 6 hours at a time due to the lack of priests. From this, he was convinced that his vocation was to serve in Australia even though he loved Lebanon very much and desperately missed it. Fr. Antoun says that “God has always lead my vocation and my way and opened the doors for me and I believe that he has truly chosen me for a reason.”
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