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1933-1985

“Dominique”

The Singing Nun was born as Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers, later known as Sister Luc Gabriel when she was a nun in the Dominican Fichermont convent in Belgium. She became famous as Soeur Sourire (Sister Smile) after she recorded the hit song “Dominique” in 1963. She gave concerts and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on television. In 1966, Warner Brothers made a movie about her starring Debbie Reynolds. In 1967, she left the monastery to continue her musical career and become a secular missionary under her birth name. Religious songs and songs for children comprised her repertoire. Most of her earnings went to the convent. She operated a school for special needs children. In the late 1970s, the Belgian government claimed she owed back taxes. Deckers had given her earnings away and she had no receipts to prove the donations. Citing financial difficulties in a note, she and her companion of ten years committed suicide. That same day, unknown to her, the Belgian association that collects royalties awarded her about $300,000, more than enough to pay her debt.

“Dominique” is a lively song about the personal theological battle waged by a Spanish monk against the thirteenth century Albigensian heresy. The Albigensians, also known as Cathars, flourished in Europe from the late 1100s to about 1325. They opposed many of the Catholic Church’s positions, with some groups more heretical than others.