Effects of fame and further musical career
Partially due to her ignorance of business matters, Deckers did not receive much money from the sales of her recordings. Most of her earnings were taken by Philips and her producer, while the rest automatically went to her religious congregation, which earned at least $100,000 in royalties. Her second album, titled Her Joys, Her Songs received scant attention upon its release and was quickly deleted by Philips.
In 1967, a biographical film loosely based on her story, The Singing Nun, was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starred Debbie Reynolds in the title role. Sister Luc Gabriel reportedly rejected the film as "fiction".
Pulled between two worlds and increasingly in disagreement with the Catholic Church, Deckers left her convent in 1967 to pursue a life as a Tertiary living in the world instead. 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 sisters contact with her as she was described as a "bad influence". After she left, however, Deckers 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.
When she left the convent, her record company made her give up her professional names, "Sœur Sourire" and "The Singing Nun". She attempted to continue her musical career under the name Luc Dominique. 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. This led to a backlash from the Catholic hierarchy which saw a succession of her planned concerts cancelled. In 1968, Deckers turned to publishing, writing a book of inspirational verse, but that, too, failed to gain an audience.
Deckers went on to release an album titled I Am Not a Star in Heaven and developed a repertoire of religious songs and songs for children. Despite her renewed emphasis on music, Deckers's 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, Brabant, eventually opening her own school for autistic children. Deckers eventually suffered a nervous breakdown, which was followed by two years of psychotherapy.
