By Jim Davis - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | Step into the principal’s office at Epiphany School, and you’ll think you’ve entered a shrine for the Philadelphia Eagles. And you’ll be right — as you scan the banners, blanket, desk, chair and other items, all in the green and silver hues of the pro football team.

But Sister Margaret Fagan got the crown jewel for fans on Jan. 26: a ticket to Super Bowl LII on Sunday, Feb. 4, when the team will face the New England Patriots in Minneapolis.

“I’m still in shock,” Sister Margaret said four days after being given the ticket before cheering students, parents and teachers. “It is beyond my wildest dreams.”

Sister Margaret’s office can seem like a souvenir shop for the team. Over her 14 years at Epiphany, she has collected team swag including cups, dolls, hats, socks, Croc shoes, plates, napkins, blankets — most of it gifts from school parents.

But they outdid themselves last week, after the Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings and secured a spot at Super Bowl. Parents began talking about doing something for Sister Margaret, said Caroline Murphy, a technology teacher at Epiphany.

They started chipping in money, and some used connections with the Eagles and Super Bowl. Teachers launched their own fund to raise spending money for Sister Margaret.

By Jan. 26, about 85 people were in on the plot, Murphy estimated — yet no one tipped off the sister.

 

‘Better pack your bags’

“I thought it was going to be a rally for the Eagles” when she was called out into the school yard, the nun confessed. Instead, as a Facebook video shows, Msgr. Jude O’Doherty, Epiphany’s pastor, presented her with an envelope — and on opening it, she threw her head back with amazement as the 900 students, plus about 100 teachers and parents, cheered.

“Better pack your bags,” said Father Alex Rivera, parochial vicar at Epiphany, handing her a small suitcase bearing an Eagles bumper sticker. Then the PA system struck up the Eagles fight song.

“That helped me to keep from crying,” Sister Margaret admitted.

The episode is just the latest surge of fandom at Epiphany School. During Dress-Down Day this week (Catholic Schools Week), Sister Margaret wore the jersey of her favorite team — with the number 36, for Eagles veteran Brian Westbrook — a gift from her well-connected brother. Some students likewise donned Eagles fashions.

In 2009, for her silver jubilee as a sister with the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a friend wrote to Andy Reid, former head coach of the Eagles. His return letter of congratulations now hangs on her wall in a frame.

Two years later, when the team was playing the Dolphins in Miami, the school asked the Eagles to attend a school pep rally — and a teacher upped the ante by sending a booklet touting Sister Margaret as the team’s biggest fan.

The timing didn’t work out for a visit, but Reid autographed the book and sent a signed football inscribed with “Sister Margaret — Thanks for all the support and prayer.” The ball now sits in a clear plastic case in her office.

The solidarity comes, of course, from more than sports. It also shows the feelings of the Epiphany community toward Sister Margaret.

“She’s an incredible leader and a wonderful friend,” Murphy said. “One of the most sympathetic, empathetic people you’ll ever meet.”

 

Passionate about many things

The fervor has intrigued Father Rivero, who has worked at Epiphany since June. Nine of his 17 cousins attended the school; but he notes that Eagles fever has spiked this year.

“I’m a Dolphins fan — it’s our local team,” Father Rivero said, then smiled. “But in this situation, I’m totally with the Eagles.”

He added more seriously: “As passionate as she is about the Eagles, she is the same about Christ and the school and life as a religious sister. There’s a beautiful consistency about her.”

The Eagles have always been on the side of the angels for Sister Margaret. Raised in Philadelphia, she joined her late father and her brother, Jack, in watching the games on TV.

She described something like a Sunday ritual: early Mass, then breakfast, then preparing for the game. That included special foods like soft pretzels and Philly cheese steak sandwiches. Everyone even had a special place to sit as they watched.

Each summer, the family attended Eagles training camp as well, no matter how hot it got. She and her brother, Jack, still go each year.

“I think we’ve been Eagles fans from birth — from the womb,” she joked.

Even after she entered the IHM order in 1984, she found time to watch the Eagles during football season. Each summer she stays at an IHM convent in Philadelphia, and brings some of her team gear. “It’s like Holy Hour” while watching an Eagles game there, as she put it.

 

Rock-like dedication

Sister Margaret even climbed onto the rubble of Veterans Stadium, the former field of the Eagles, after it was demolished in 2004. She and two other IHM sisters were collecting rocks as pieces of Eagles history. She saved an extra rock for Jack.

What of unexploded dynamite from the demolition? “I didn’t think of that until afterward,” she said.

After proclaiming her love for all things Eagles during the interview, Sister Margaret felt the need to add, “I love God first — God is my Number 1.” She said that sports — Philly style or otherwise — embodies solid spiritual lessons for Catholic students.

“One is commitment,” she said. “Whether things are going well or they’re difficult, you don’t say ‘Forget about it’ — you stay on the same route. And that’s the same whether it’s about religious life, single life or married life.”

Another lesson from sports: teamwork and cooperation. “The Eagles have support in their team, but also from their city and their fan base. It’s the same in our school: We’re working together. When I struggle, others come to help me up.”

This won’t be Sister Margaret’s first time rooting in a stadium for the Eagles.  She typically attends whenever they play the Dolphins. And she went to Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville in 2005, when the Eagles lost to the Patriots.

The Eagles also made it to Super Bowl XV in 1981 against the Oakland Raiders. They lost that one, too.

What if they lose again on Sunday? Not even a possibility for Sister Margaret.

“This … Is … Our … Year,” she said — so emphatically that the capital letters almost appeared in the air.