Though young, Antoine showed great piety, which the historian Pierre Debouxhtay described as a "devotion of a rather scrupulous formalism". Despite his strong faith, Antoine was unsatisfied with his religion. He began to be influenced by the writings of Allan Kardec and, through his friend Gustave Gon, was initiated in 1884 in Spiritism in attending Spiritist meetings to Tilleur, alongside his wife and his nephew Pierre Dor. In Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, with friends, he started a Spiritist movement called "The Vine Growers of the Lord" ("Les Vignerons du Seigneur"). Often ill, his son attended evening school in Jemeppe, then worked at the Society of Belgian Northern Railways (Société des Chemins de Fer du Nord Belge); At his death on 23 April 1893 because of a phlebitis, Antoine and his group definitively broke with Christianity; moreover, after participating in Spiritist meetings, parents believed that their deceased son was reincarnated as a pharmacist in Paris. Antoine published in 1896 a book entitled "Little Spiritist Catechism" ("Petit catéchisme spirite") to explain his own doctrinal views; shaped on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, this writing was successful and was translated into Spanish. Antoine organized public meetings of Spiritism the first Sunday of each month at his home, and the second and the fourth Sundays at Pierre Debroux's home, people being invited to meetings through flyers. He then discovered the gifts of healing and by 1900, he received many sufferers to heal; thenceforth, he was known as the "healer of Jemeppe". He distributed remedies learned from Spiritism and advocated vegetarianism, as well as temperance and avoidance of fatty foods.