SISTER LUC GABRIEL: October 17, 1933 to March 29, 1985
I remember as a boy seeing THE SINGING NUN on television. We were a Catholic household and we took delight in seeing the Dominican Sister Luc Gabriel of Belgium (Jeanine Deckers) on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was 1964, Vatican II was in full-swing, but the old Church was still alive and well. It was a great time to be a Catholic! Her song “Dominique” went to the top of the charts. Debbie Reynolds loosely portrayed her in a popular 1966 film.
Her life might be regarded as a snapshot of all the promise and loss that the whole Church experienced during this period in history. Many hopes from the reform soured and a Catholic culture seemed to collapse overnight. She left the religious life in 1967. She would become upset that so much of her earnings went to the convent. There would continue to be tension over the legal rights of her music. Not very flamboyant and no longer a cute oddity in habit, her musical career nose-dived. She became more and more a dissident on Catholic teaching, even becoming an advocate for the birth control pill. Her song, “Glory Be to God for the Golden Pill” was regarded in especially bad taste. Unlike the movie portrayal (with a hint of a heterosexual temptation), she would come out as a lesbian and fervently defended the homosexual agenda.
Given the fickleness of musical tastes, she failed to make it financially as a musician. However, she and her companion, Annie Pécher selflessly started a school for children afflicted with autism. The Belgium government in the 1970’s claimed that she owed about $50,000 in U.S. dollars for back taxes. Unable to prove that the money was given the convent, she went heavily into debt. The school closed. She tried to jump-start her musical career in 1982, but nothing much came of it. It was reported that she and her lover committed suicide with a drug overdose combined with alcohol in 1985. They are buried together.
The note they left behind, read, “We hope God will welcome us. He saw us suffer, so He should show clemency.”
How sad. May God have mercy on us all.
That is so sad. I can’t bear to watch the videos. Eternal rest grant unto them, Oh Lord.
I still love her as I did when living in Seattle on 62-63, when I first heard her.
It is sad that her talent has not been explored because of her association with nunhood and she good no sppt for her noble act of helping children.
I was horrified to learn of what happened to her. I remembered the song “far beyond the stars” just today after over 40 years. I was about 4or 5 years of age when I saw the movie “The Singing Nun” and her songs have been part of me ever since. May she rest in peace.