The Singing Nun The Singing Nun Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers (17 October 1933 – 29 March 1985), better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile", often credited as The Singing Nun in English-speaking countries), was a Belgian singer-songwriter and initially a member of the Dominican Order in Belgium as Sister Luc-Gabrielle. She acquired world fame in 1963 with the release of the French-language song "Dominique", which topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and other charts. She was born Jeanne Paule Deckers in Laeken in 1933, the daughter of a pâtisserie shop owner, and was educated in a Catholic school in Brussels. She was a
The Singing Nun was about to be sent to a mission country. After leaving the convent, Deckers and Pécher began to share an apartment; Deckers alleged she told the 22-year-old Annie that she did not want a romantic relationship with her, saying she wanted them to live together simply as friends. However, Deckers' diaries indicate that, although she resisted her growing feeling of closeness to the younger woman, they fell in love and a sexual relationship between them arose some years after they began to live together. In 1973, Deckers became involved with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Cardinal Suenens requested that she write