Editing The Singing Nun (section)

== Career ==
While in the convent, Sister Luc Gabriel wrote, sang, and casually performed her own songs, which were so well received by her fellow nuns and visitors that her [[Superior (hierarchy)#Catholic church|religious superior]]s encouraged her to record [[The Singing Nun (album)|an album]], which visitors and [[retreat (spiritual)|retreatants]] at the convent would be able to purchase.<ref name="entertainmentweekly" />

In 1962, the album was recorded in [[Brussels]] at [[Philips Records|Philips]]; in 1963 the single "[[Dominique]]" became an international hit, and her album sold nearly two million copies.<ref name="Gubin2006" /> Sister Luc Gabriel became an international celebrity and took the stage name of {{lang|fr|Sœur Sourire}} ('Sister Smile'). She gave several live concerts and appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' on television on 5 January 1964.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bronson|first=Fred |title=The Billboard Book of Number One Hits|publisher=Billboard Books|year=2003|page=141|isbn=0-8230-7677-6}}</ref> "Dominique" was the first song by a Belgian artist to be a number one hit single in the United States.<ref name=guafil>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/28/singing-nun-jeannine-deckers |title=New film tells tragic story of Belgium's Singing Nun |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=28 April 2009}}</ref> The song's chorus "Dominique, nique, nique" caused some amusement among French listeners as the verb ''[[wikt:niquer#Etymology 2|niquer]]'' is slang for 'have sex', with ''nique'' thus being equivalent to 'fuck(s)'; Deckers was unaware of this.<ref name=page44>{{cite book |last= Chadwick |first=D. A. |title=The Singing Nun Story: The Life and Death of Soeur Sourire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lUyaMwEACAAJ |year=2010|page=44 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1-4537-1096-8}}</ref>

Sister Luc Gabriel found it difficult, however, having to live up to her publicity as "a true girl scout," always happy and in a good mood. "I was never allowed to be depressed," she remembered in 1979. "The mother superior used to censor my songs and take out any verses I wrote when I was feeling sad."<ref name=ydv>{{cite web |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G6RJAAAAIBAJ&pg=876,2772046&dq=jeanine+deckers&hl=en |title='Singing Nun' makes comeback |first=Margaret |last=Gordy|work=Youngstown Daily Vindicator  |date= 8 February 1979|access-date=5 April 2013}}</ref>

In 1963 the General Music Company published a book of 15 Soeur Sourire songs with English lyrics provided by [[Noël Regney]], who later claimed that he had co-written "Dominique."<ref name=page44 /> Later that same year she was sent by her order to take theology courses at the [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|University of Louvain]]. She liked the student life, if not her courses.

=== Effects of fame and further musical career ===
Deckers did not see much money from her international fame, and her second album, ''Her Joys, Her Songs'', received little attention and disappeared almost as soon as it was released in 1964. Most of her earnings were taken by Philips and her producer, while the rest automatically went to her [[religious congregation]],<ref name="Gubin2006" /> which earned at least $100,000 in royalties.<ref name="entertainmentweekly" />

In 1966, a biographical film loosely based on Sister Luc Gabriel was released called ''[[The Singing Nun (film)|The Singing Nun]]'' and starring [[Debbie Reynolds]] in the central role.<ref name="Gubin2006" /> Sister Luc Gabriel reportedly rejected the film as "fiction".<ref name="entertainmentweekly" />

Pulled between two worlds and increasingly in disagreement with the Catholic Church, Deckers left her convent in 1966<ref name="Gubin2006" /> to pursue a life as a [[Third Order of St. Dominic|lay Dominican]] instead.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mAIqAAAAIBAJ&pg=7396,1397742&dq=jeanine+deckers&hl=en|title=Bits of Show Business|work=The Milwaukee Journal|date=13 October 1966|access-date=5 April 2013}}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> She later reported that her departure resulted from a [[personality clash]] with her superiors, that she had been forced out of the convent and did not leave of her own free will. Convent superiors denied the other nuns contact with her as she was described as a "bad influence". After she left, however, she continued to adhere as closely as she could to the disciplines of the convent, still considering herself a nun, praying several times daily, and maintaining a simple and chaste lifestyle.<ref name=ydv /><ref name=NYT>{{cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/02/world/belgium-s-singing-nun-is-reported-a-suicide.html |title=Belgium's Singing Nun Is Reported a Suicide  |work=The New York Times|date=2 April 1985}}</ref>

When she left the convent, her record company made her give up her professional names, "Sœur Sourire" and "The Singing Nun".<ref name=ydv /> She attempted to continue her musical career under the name '''Luc Dominique'''.<ref name="Gubin2006" /> Angered by what she saw as the Catholic Church's failure to implement the reforms of the [[Second Vatican Council]], she released a song in 1967 in support of [[contraception]], "Glory be to God for the Golden Pill".<ref>{{cite book |first=Philip |last=Jenkins |author-link=Philip Jenkins |title=God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis |url=https://archive.org/details/godscontinentchr00jenk |url-access=registration |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-531395-6}}</ref> This led to a backlash from the Catholic hierarchy which saw a succession of her planned concerts cancelled.<ref>{{cite web|last=Heneghan |first=Tom |url=http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/04/29/sister-smile-film-tells-sad-story-of-the-singing-nun/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504021747/http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/04/29/sister-smile-film-tells-sad-story-of-the-singing-nun/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 May 2009 |title="Sister Smile" film tells sad story of the Singing Nun |publisher=Blogs.reuters.com |date=29 April 2009 |access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref> In 1968, Deckers turned to publishing, writing a book of inspirational verse, but that, too, failed to gain an audience.<ref name=":0" />

Deckers went on to release an album titled ''I Am Not a Star in Heaven''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0812123/otherworks|title=Soeur Sourire|website=IMDb|access-date=14 March 2019}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/article/jeanine-deckers-the-singing-nun|title=Legacy, Celebrity deaths|website=[[Legacy.com]]|date=29 March 2011|access-date=9 June 2018}}</ref> and developed a repertoire of religious songs and songs for children.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} Despite her renewed emphasis on music, Deckers' career failed to prosper. She blamed the album's failure on not being able to use the names by which she had become known, saying that "nobody knew who it was." When a second single, "Sister Smile Is Dead", also failed, Deckers turned to teaching disabled youngsters in [[Wavre]], [[Province of Brabant|Brabant]], eventually opening her own school for [[autism|autistic]] children.<ref name=NYT /> She eventually suffered a nervous breakdown, which was followed by two years of [[psychotherapy]].<ref name=ydv />