Real-world Fairy Godmothers & Wizards are those extraordinary folks I believe have made life better, happier and – yes – more magical for all of us. Today’s extraordinary person: Sister Jacques-Marie!

Magic powers: Charm, will of iron, right-hand woman, life enhancer, muse.

Matisse is one of my favorite painters. His work is full of light, joy and charm. He was a man who fully enjoyed the five senses and had a refined appreciation for beauty. But he found – at age 72 – that his buoyant attitude to life would be severely tested. That was when he underwent surgery for cancer that left him colostimized and unable to stand for any great length of time.

Enter a woman named Monique Bourgeois. Twenty-five years old, she had been raised by somewhat joyless parents who told her repeatedly that she was ugly and useless. When Monique responded to an ad placed by Matisse for a night nurse, she entered into a platonic friendship with a great artist – and it was a friendship that restored Matisse’s zest for life and gave Monique strength and confidence.

Seeing with the eyes of an artist, Matisse found Monique, the girl whose parents thought her ugly*, beautiful and asked her to model for him. She posed for four portraits – none of which, by the way, she liked very much. Asked her opinion, she told Matisse she liked the colors but not the lines. He appreciated her honesty just as he appreciated other aspects of her character; she was wholesome, straightforward, and, well, good.

Long story short, Monique – in a decision that horrified the non-religious Matisse – decided to become a nun, and to join the Dominican order. He tried to dissuade her, but she was sure about this decision. Her new name was Sister Jacques-Marie. When the nuns in her community in Vence, France, needed a new chapel, Matisse was inspired, in collaboration with Sister Jacques-Marie, to design the chapel in its entirety – from the architecture to the bell tower, from the stained glass windows, to the altar, from the wall paintings to the priestly vestments. The end result was a joyous piece of art.

This road to this achievement was not all a great pleasure for Sister Jacques-Marie. The press published stories suggesting that her relationship with Matisse was more than platonic. Her immediate superior did not like the idea of the worldly Matisse designing a chapel for the Dominicans, and some of Sister Jacques-Marie’s fellow nuns also disapproved. Because of the possible bad publicity, when Matisse died, Sister Jacques-Marie was not allowed to attend the funeral, a decision that caused her great sadness.

Sister Jacques-Marie, who had – before she met Matisse – been timid and easily cowed – would later describe herself as being “tough as nails” in meeting the criticism and opposition directed at her. But, if you watch the documentary about the construction of the chapel in Vence, A Model for Matisse (1995), you will also note that – even in her seventies, when the documentary was filmed – despite her newfound toughness, Sister Jacques-Marie never lost any of her sweetness, her charm, or her wit.

Sister Jacques-Marie is an inspiration for anyone brought up with clueless parents who fail to see their child’s potential. She also is an inspiration for those trapped in a bureaucratic environment/job who stay with it for the greater good. In her case, it was her dedication to her calling. For others it is their need to make a living or to support their families. Sister Jacques-Marie also is a reminder that you can, to paraphrase Shakespeare, “soar above the elements you live in ” – sometimes in surprising ways!

Did her friendship with Matisse help give her that “tough as nails” strength? Undoubtedly. Did Matisse’s friendship with Sister Jacques-Marie help inspire him to continue in his mission to create beauty despite the terrible challenges of old age and illness? Absolutely.

It was a match made in heaven.

A sweet footnote to the life of Sister Jacques-Marie: When she passed away in 2005, her funeral service was held in the chapel in Vence; although she was survived only by one sister, members of Matisse’s family were present to honor her.

* Sister Jacques-Marie recalls her feisty and witty response to her parents’ calling her ugly: “If I am ugly, it’s your fault. I am the way you made me.” (Not difficult, is it, to see why Matisse so enjoyed her company?)

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