The nun in the huddle: Loyola’s legendary Sister Jean

A great profile of an icon, from The New York Times: 

Each prayer begins the same way, with “Good and gracious God.” Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt always makes sure of that.

But it is in the words that follow that Sister Jean, the 98-year-old nun who serves as the team chaplain for Loyola University-Chicago’s N.C.A.A. tournament-bound basketball team, really finds her voice. She asks for God’s protection for the players. She asks for the referees to call fouls “justly.” She asks that the Ramblers execute the plays the way they were intended.

The prayers are anything but bipartisan.

“I ask God to be especially good to Loyola so that, at the end of the game, the scoreboard indicates a big ‘W’ for us,” she said.

Coach Porter Moser and his players had the most to do with Loyola’s bid to go to the N.C.A.A. tournament this week, the program’s first appearance in the field in 33 years. But even they acknowledge that Sister Jean’s presence and influence are undeniable.

She has her own plaque in the university’s hall of fame. She has had her own bobblehead night. And inside the weight room at Loyola’s athletic center, Sister Jean’s words, “Worship, work, win,” are displayed prominently. But it is the words painted on another wall outside of Gentile Arena — a quote from St. Ignatius of Loyola — that may better point to the power of her personality:

Go forth and set the world on fire.

Read how she does that here. 

Check out this video produced for her 95th birthday: