By Baxter Holmes, 2026-06-06 19:00:00
下午6点，她们聚集在圣安东尼奥西区的一所小学体育馆内，观看西部决赛的第七场生死战。
当地汽车经销商卡利格汽车集团 (Kahlig Auto Group) 赞助了这场观赛派对，提供了来自当地一家墨西哥餐厅的美食，款待了近200名到场人员。大家尽情享用着墨西哥卷饼、米饭和豆子、薯片、牛油果酱、莎莎酱以及四壶色彩缤纷的墨西哥水果水 (aguas frescas)。
一排排折叠椅面对着舞台上搭建的投影屏幕，舞台周围点缀着黑色和银色的气球。
一些孩子们制作了标语牌——制造点噪音（MAKE SOME NOISE）、马刺加油（GO SPURS GO）、防守（DE-FENSE）——并兴奋地举着它们在房间里跑来跑去。
现场气氛热烈，宛如比赛现场。
*“马刺加油 (GO, SPURS, GO)”的欢呼声在体育馆墙壁间回荡。每当雷霆队掌控球权时，“防守……防守 (DE-FENSE … DE-FENSE)”*的呐喊声也随之响起。
与此同时，另外一些到场者则在一遍又一遍地默念着完全不同的内容：
“进教之佑圣母，请为我们祈祷。”
“进教之佑圣母，请为我们祈祷。”
“进教之佑圣母，请为我们祈祷。”
这些祈祷来自“进教之佑圣母修女会”（Daughters of Mary Help of Christians）的成员。这是一个创立于19世纪晚期意大利的全球性修会，拥有超过1万名成员。
在圣安东尼奥，人们更习惯称呼她们较为通俗的名字：圣若望·鲍思高萨勒森修女会西部教区 (Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, West Province)。她们也被誉为这个星球上最忠实、最神圣的马刺球迷，与球队的渊源可以追溯到近40年前。
她们在工作中接触到许多热爱马刺的孩子，久而久之，修女们也爱上了这支球队。随着马刺一路杀入总决赛对阵纽约尼克斯，她们在网络上迅速走红。总决赛第三场（美东时间周一晚8:30在ABC直播）将继续进行。
在马刺季后赛后期的冲刺阶段，她们亲临马刺主场观看季后赛，与马刺球员们互动并为他们祈祷，成为了好运的象征，甚至被视为“神迹降临”——或者介于两者之间。
对于这些致力于各种慈善事业（包括帮助全市弱势儿童）的修女们来说，所有的关注——合影、签名以及为她们心爱的马刺祈祷的请求——都让她们有些应接不暇。
“我们不想成为什么广告噱头，”贝纳黛特·莫塔修女 (Sister Bernadette Mota) 说道。“我们的生命是奉献给上帝的。”
“我们处于一个非常贫困的地区。我们的一所学校目前正处于勉力维持的边缘，所以现在得到的支持真的是莫大的恩赐，否则我们根本撑不下去。”
“对我们来说，这在这个时刻真的是天赐之福。”
如果圣安东尼奥萨勒森修女们的祈祷得到回应，文班时代将以马刺夺冠拉开序幕。 圣若望·鲍思高萨勒森修女会
当西德尼·莫斯修女 (Sister Sydney Moss) 于2013年抵达圣安东尼奥时，她几乎立刻就被“同化”了。
在36位修女（其中包括20位已退休修女）居住的省会院（Provincial House）里，如果有人在睡觉时间想关掉电视，而马刺的比赛还没结束，那些死忠球迷修女就会急眼。
“不行，”她们会说，“我们还要看比赛呢。”
莫斯修女会坐在安吉丽塔·古兹曼修女 (Sister Angelita Guzman) 身边，后者是一位资深的马刺球迷，在比赛期间总是默默祈祷。
*“圣若望·鲍思高，请坐在篮筐上，这样对手就投不进了，”*她会这样祈祷。
莫斯修女讲述了她拜访一位修女房间的故事。房间里几乎没有什么个人物品，但马刺的纪念品却随处可见，其中还包括一张与马刺传奇、前主教练格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 的合影。
在马刺于2007年夺得队史第四冠后，时任球队主帅的波波维奇带着几名球员拜访了省会院，与修女们交谈并合影留念。
“他会单膝跪地和修女说话，”已于2018年去世的古兹曼修女此前曾告诉ESPN，并提到在那次拜访后，她开始通过信件与波波维奇联络。“他对待我们非常亲切。”
波波维奇还参加了一场旨在为修女们筹集资金的慈善高尔夫球赛。他还会请求修女们为球队祈祷。
莫斯修女说，到了2019年，马刺王朝开始走下坡路，而一些最热爱马刺的修女也已经回归天国。
新的修女陆续到来，在此期间，她们与球队的联系开始逐渐淡化。
莫塔修女于2019年抵达圣安东尼奥。
她很懂篮球。她在高中时打过球，还执教过五、六年级的学生。她非常崇拜前加州大学洛杉矶分校 (UCLA) 传奇教练约翰·伍登 (John Wooden)，读过关于他的书，甚至曾梦想有朝一日能执教UCLA女篮。
在了解到修女们与马刺的渊源后，她联系了波波维奇的助手请求球票。马刺为她们提供了30张2020年3月16日比赛的门票，但那场比赛最终因新冠疫情而延期。
几年过去了，期间经历了马刺队史最糟糕的四个赛季。尽管如此，修女们依然在为他们加油。现年87岁的卢尔德·特雷维诺修女 (Sister Lourdes Trevino) 会在早餐时提供赛事总结，告诉其他修女球队的表现以及排名情况。“她对马刺的一切了如指掌，”莫斯修女说道。
当本赛季季后赛拉开帷幕时，修女们也开始准时收看。
5月12日，正值马刺与明尼苏达森林狼进行次轮系列赛期间，修女们在 Instagram上发布了一张照片，照片中一些修女在修女服外套着马刺球衣，正在看电视直播。
“萨勒森修女会正在为马刺加油和祈祷！”她们写道。
这篇帖子引发了关注。在西部决赛期间，一位马刺官员拜访了修女们，为她们送去了球队周边商品，并感谢她们的支持。
不久之后，其他球队官员也前来拜访。
修女们带领他们参观了省会院和礼拜堂，一位马刺员工送上了一份礼物，以表达对修女们数十年支持的感激之情。
“我们想对你们说声谢谢，”他们说，“但我们还为你们准备了一个惊喜。”
那是四张西部决赛对阵雷霆第四场的门票。
修女们兴奋不已。她们在比赛开球前抵达现场，并在赛前热身时站在场边。虔诚的天主教徒、马刺中锋卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet) 走上前与她们握手。
第一次现场观看马刺比赛的莫塔修女抬头看着他。
“我可以为你祈福吗？”她问。
科内特欣然接受。
身高7英尺1英寸（约2.16米）的科内特弯下腰，迎合着身高5英尺1英寸（约1.55米）的修女，修女将手放在他的头上。两人都闭上了双眼。她祈求圣灵与他同在。
这一瞬间在网络上疯传。马刺赢下了比赛。替补出场贡献6分、7个篮板和2次盖帽的科内特在赛后表示，第六场比赛修女们必须去俄克拉荷马城。
“我们得让她们上飞机，”他说。
圣若望·鲍思高萨勒森修女会
修女们收到了前往客场观看第五场比赛的邀请，但她们选择留在家里，与社区的家人们一起观看。不过，对于回到主场的第六场比赛，仅仅举办普通的观赛派对显然不够了。
一位热心女士通过众筹为她们购买了四张看台票，而卡利格汽车集团则为她们提供了五个包厢席位。
于是，在比赛日当天，两辆由马刺安保人员驾驶的黑色SUV停在了省会院门口，在警车的护送下，九位修女顺利穿过晚高峰的拥堵车流，抵达了球馆。
坐在SUV里，莫塔修女想象着即将到来的夜晚。
“噢，我们能见到名人了！”她对其中一位安保人员说。
“修女，”安保人员回答道，“你们才是名人。”
她吃了一惊。“不，我们只是修女。”
安保人员在球馆迎接她们，并护送她们入内。一些修女来到包厢，开始高喊“马刺加油 (Go, Spurs, Go)”；当她们呼喊时，球迷们抬起头看到了修女，这一口号很快便在全场蔓延开来。
开球前，修女们聚集在马刺球员入场的通道内。
当球员们小跑出场时，他们纷纷与修女们击掌和碰拳致意。
修女们又等了几分钟，等待着最瞩目的超级巨星。随后，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 出现了，修女们纷纷仰起头。文班亚马看着她们，放慢了脚步，双手合十。
接着，当他走过时，他将每一位修女的手都握在自己手中。
“从他的眼神中，你能看出他是多么专注，”莫塔修女说，“也能看出他对于我们的到来有多么感激。”
整场比赛期间，球迷们纷纷请求与修女们合影，并感谢她们为马刺祈祷。
“是的，我们可以祈祷，但你们也可以，”莫塔修女告诉他们。“我们的祈祷并不比任何人的更崇高或更神圣。天赋在其中起到了很大作用。马刺是一支优秀的球队。”
那天晚上，马刺在球馆的大屏幕上展示了修女们的身影，全场爆发出雷鸣般的欢呼声。在马刺再次赢球后，当她们当晚返回住所时，一名路人认出了她们，并放慢了车速。
“您真的是修女吗？”那名女士问莫斯修女。
是的，她回答。
“噢，天哪，谢谢你们，谢谢你们！”
莫斯修女点了点头。
“上帝保佑你们，”她说。“马刺加油！”
**伴随着朋友、**家人和其他孩子们，20位修女在圣若望·鲍思高小学体育馆观看了西部决赛的第七场生死战，该体育馆就在省会院对面。
莫塔修女当时不在场。她说自己当时在南加州参加侄子的高中毕业典礼，但事后看了比赛集锦。当她看到科内特在第四节对俄克拉荷马城的以赛亚·哈尔滕施泰因 (Isaiah Hartenstein) 贡献了那次改变比赛走势的追身大帽时，她注意到了他眼神中的专注。
“有时，你拥有一种超越自身常规天赋的能力，去完成那个时刻你必须完成的事情，”她说。“当我看到他奔跑在球场上时，我心想：‘主啊，此时此刻神灵与他同在。’”
回到体育馆内，随着时间一秒秒流逝，身穿白灰相间修女服、外套马刺球衣的修女们挥舞着拳头，摇动手中的银黑双色拉拉队花球。她们呐喊、欢呼、祈祷，见证着马刺锁定胜局，自2014年以来首次杀入NBA总决赛。
就在馆外，西商业街（West Commerce Street，通往市中心的主干道）上车水马龙，堵得水泄不通。汽车鸣笛，球迷欢呼，全城陷入了一片狂欢的海洋。
比赛结束后不久，莫斯修女和莫塔修女开始商量总决赛期间的打算。她们没有去纽约客场看球的计划。至于在圣安东尼奥的主场比赛，修女们也表示不希望任何人再为她们众筹买票。
“把这些钱用在其他地方吧，”莫斯修女说。“我们不希望大家花那么多钱让我们去看比赛。”
修女们更希望这些资金能用来支持她们的学校和慈善事业。
她们最近的名气带来了更多的线上捐款，来自全国乃至海外的人们纷纷捐款，或购买她们亚马逊愿望单上的物品。
其中 最近的一笔捐款 将用于资助圣若望·鲍思高小学建设一个新操场并购买一辆新校车。
“这真是一份莫大的恩赐，”莫斯修女说道。
得益于卡利格汽车集团的再次邀请，四位修女现场观看了周三总决赛第一场马刺不敌尼克斯的比赛。
赛前，修女们再次聚集在球员通道内。科内特在走过她们身边后，特意折返回来，感谢她们的到来。
文班亚马依然是最后一个出场，并再次向她们致意。不久之后，当她们站在场边时，一个熟悉的声音请她们转过身来。
DaughtersMaryHelpOfChristians (@ salesiansisterswest24) 分享的贴子
“修女们，能请你们为我祈祷吗？” 文班亚马请求她们。
她们感到既震惊又荣幸。在共处的宝贵时刻里，她们都低下了头，闭上双眼。修女们祈求上帝赐予文班亚马和马刺队恩典与力量，让他们打出好的表现。
“那一刻，真的感觉只有我们和文班，”莫斯修女说道。
周五的第二场比赛，修女们也来到了现场。她们依然在期盼并祈祷马刺能赢下这个系列赛——特别是如果球队能把比赛带到6月13日的话。
那一天不仅是总决赛第五场，也是圣安东尼奥的守护神——圣安东尼的瞻礼日。
由生成式 AI 翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Salesian Sisters are divine force behind Spurs' NBA Finals hopes
Salesian Sisters are divine force behind Spurs’ NBA Finals hopes
AT 6 P.M. THEY gathered inside an elementary school gymnasium, located on San Antonio’s westside, to watch Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
Kahlig Auto Group, a local car dealer, had sponsored the watch party with a meal from a local taqueria to feed the nearly 200 attendees, who feasted on enchiladas, rice and beans, chips, guacamole, salsa and four colorful jugs of aguas frescas.
Rows of folding chairs faced a projector screen set up on a stage that was lined with black and silver balloons.
Some kids made signs – MAKE SOME NOISE, GO SPURS GO, DE-FENSE – and ran across the room with them in glee.
The environment was raucous, game-like.
GO, SPURS, GO chants echoed off the gymnasium walls. Whenever the Thunder controlled the possession, DE-FENSE … DE-FENSE did too.
All the while, some other attendees chanted something else entirely, over and over:
“Mary Help of Christians, pray for us.”
“Mary Help of Christians, pray for us.”
“Mary Help of Christians, pray for us.”
Those were the prayers from members of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a worldwide congregation of more than 10,000 that was founded in Italy in the late 1800s.
In San Antonio, they’re known by their less formal name: the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, West Province. They’re also known as perhaps the biggest and holiest Spurs fans on the planet, with ties to the team dating back nearly 40 years.
They were working with kids who loved the Spurs, and the sisters learned to do the same. And they’ve gained newfound fame as viral sensations amid the team’s run to the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks, which continue with Game 3 (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC) on Monday.
They’ve attended Spurs playoff home games, greeted and prayed with Spurs players, and served as symbols either of good luck or, perhaps, even divine intervention – or somewhere in between – during the Spurs’ late postseason push.
To the sisters, who are involved in a range of charitable efforts, including work with disadvantaged kids across the city, all the attention – the requests for photos, autographs and prayers for their beloved Spurs – has been a bit overwhelming.
“We don’t want to be an advertising gimmick or anything like that,” says Sister Bernadette Mota. "Our life is dedicated to God.
"We’re in a very poor and impoverished area. We have a school that’s hanging on by an edge right now, so the amount of support that has come through is a real blessing because otherwise we wouldn’t be making it.
“This really is a godsend for us at this moment.”
If the prayers of San Antonio’s Salesian Sisters are answered, the Wemby Era will begin with their Spurs as champions. Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco
WHEN SISTER SYDNEY MOSS arrived in San Antonio in 2013, she was indoctrinated almost immediately.
At the Provincial House, where 36 sisters live, including 20 who are retired, die-hards would bristle if anyone wants to turn off the television at bedtime and the Spurs are still playing.
“No,” they say, “we’re watching the game.”
Sister Moss would sit next to Sister Angelita Guzman, a longtime Spurs fan who quietly prayed during games.
St. John Bosco, sit on the basket so the other team won’t make a shot, she’d say.
Sister Moss tells the story of visiting one sister’s room. In it, there were little personal belongings but no shortage of Spurs memorabilia, including a photo with Spurs legend and former head coach Gregg Popovich.
After the Spurs won their fourth title in 2007, Popovich, then the team’s coach, visited the Provincial House with some players, spoke with the sisters and took photos with them.
“He would kneel down and talk with a sister,” Sister Gumzan, who passed away in 2018, previously told ESPN, noting that after his visit she began corresponding with Popovich through letters. “He was very affectionate with us.”
Popovich played in a charity golf tournament that helped raise money for the sisters. And he’d ask that they pray for the team.
By 2019, the Spurs were on the downslope of their dynasty, and some of the sisters who were their biggest fans had gone to heaven, Sister Moss says.
New sisters arrived, and, along the way, their connection to the team began to fade.
Sister Mota arrived in San Antonio in 2019.
She knew the game. She’d played in high school and coached fifth and sixth graders. She loved former UCLA coach John Wooden, read books about him and even aspired to one day coach the UCLA women’s basketball team.
She’d learned about the sisters’ connection to the Spurs and reached out to Popovich’s assistant to ask for tickets. The Spurs provided 30 of them for a game on March 16, 2020, but that game was ultimately postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Years passed, including four of the Spurs’ worst seasons in franchise history. Still, the sisters cheered them on. Sister Lourdes Trevino, now 87, provided recaps over breakfast, telling her fellow sisters how the team performed and where the team was in the standings. “She knows everything about the Spurs,” Sister Moss says.
When the playoffs began this season, the sisters tuned in.
On May 12, as the Spurs were in the midst of their second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the sisters posted a photo on Instagram, showing some wearing Spurs jerseys over their habits, watching the game on television.
“The Salesian Sisters are cheering and praying for the Spurs!” they wrote.
The post gained attention. During the Western Conference finals, a Spurs official visited the sisters, bringing them merchandise and thanking them for their support.
Soon after, other team officials visited too.
The sisters provided a tour of the house and the chapel, and one Spurs employee offered a gift, a token of their appreciation for the sisters’ decades of support.
“We want to say thank you,” they said, “but we also have a surprise for you.”
It was four tickets to Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Thunder.
The sisters beamed with excitement. They arrived before tipoff and stood on the sidelines during pregame warmups. Spurs center Luke Kornet, a devout Catholic, approached and shook their hands.
Sister Mota, who was attending her first Spurs game, looked up at him.
“Can I pray a blessing for you?” she asked.
Kornet accepted.
The 7-foot-1 Kornet bent down to the 5-foot-1 sister, and she placed her hand on his head. They each closed their eyes. She prayed for the holy spirit to be with him.
The moment went viral. The Spurs won. Kornet, who finished with six points, seven rebounds and two blocks off the bench, said afterward that the sisters needed to be in Oklahoma City for Game 6.
“We’ve got to get 'em on the plane,” he said.
Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco
THE SISTERS FIELDED offers to travel for Game 5, but they stayed home to watch, with their people. No such watch party would be acceptable for Game 6 at home, though.
A woman crowdfunded to buy them four tickets in the stands, and Kahlig Auto Group offered them five seats in a box suite at the game.
And so it was that, on game day, two black SUVs, driven by security officials who work with the Spurs, pulled up to the Provincial House, and a police escort helped the nine sisters navigate through rush-hour traffic to the arena.
Sitting in the SUV, Sister Mota imagined their night ahead.
“Oh, we’ll get to meet famous people!” she said to one of the security officials.
“Sister,” the official replied, “You are the famous people.”
She was taken aback. “No, we’re sisters.”
Security met them at the arena, shepherding them inside. Some visited the suite and began chanting “Go, Spurs, Go”; as they did, fans looked up, saw the sisters, and the chant soon spread.
Before tipoff, the sisters gathered in the tunnel where Spurs players run onto the court.
As the players trotted out, they greeted the sisters with high-fives and fist bumps.
The sisters waited for several minutes more, waiting for the biggest star of all. Then, Victor Wembanyama emerged, and their necks craned up. He looked at them, slowed his stride and placed his hands together.
Then, as he walked by, he placed each of their hands in his.
“In his eyes, you could tell how focused he was,” Sister Mota says, “and how grateful he was that we were there.”
Throughout the game, fans asked the sisters for photos and thanked them for their prayers for the Spurs.
“Yes, we can pray, but so can you,” Sister Mota told them. “Our prayers aren’t higher and holier than anybody else’s. Talent has a lot to do with it. The Spurs are a good team.”
That night, the Spurs showed the sisters on the jumbotron, and the arena erupted in cheers. When they returned home that night after another Spurs win, a passerby spotted them and slowed their car.
“Are you really a sister?” the woman asked Sister Moss.
Yes, she said.
“Oh, my god, thank you, thank you!”
Sister Moss nodded her head.
“God bless you guys,” she said. “And go, Spurs go!”
ALONG WITH FRIENDS, friends, family and other kids, 20 sisters watched Game 7 of the Western Conference finals from the St. John Bosco Elementary School gymnasium, which sits across the street from the Provincial House.
Sister Mota wasn’t there. She was in Southern California for her nephew’s high school graduation, she says, but caught the highlights after. When she saw Kornet’s game-changing chase-down block on Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein in the fourth quarter, she watched the focus in his eyes.
“Sometimes you have that ability to go beyond your normal talent to do something that you need to do right at that moment,” she says. “When I saw him running down the court, I was like, ‘Lord, he’s in him right now.’”
Back inside the gym, as the seconds ticked down, the sisters – wearing Spurs jerseys over their white-and-gray habits – pumped their fists and waved their silver and black pom poms. They chanted and cheered and prayed, as the Spurs completed their win to reach the team’s first NBA Finals since 2014.
Right outside, a parade of bumper-to-bumper traffic filled West Commerce Street, a main artery that flows into downtown. Cars honked, fans cheered, a communal celebration under way.
Soon after the game, Sister Moss and Sister Mota began talking about what they’d do for the NBA Finals. There were no plans to attend games in New York. As for the games in San Antonio, the sisters said they didn’t want anyone to crowdfund for them to attend games, either.
“Let’s use the money for something else,” Sister Moss says. “We don’t want people to spend that much money on us to go see a game.”
The sisters would prefer that money, in general, to go toward supporting their school and their charitable efforts.
Their recent fame has brought in more online donations, with people from around the country – and even beyond – offering money and items on their Amazon wish list.
One recent donation will help fund a new playground and school bus for St. John Bosco Elementary School.
“It’s all such a blessing,” Sister Moss says.
Thanks to another invite from the Kahlig Auto Group, four sisters attended Wednesday’s Game 1 loss to the Knicks.
Before the game, the sisters once again gathered in the tunnel. Kornet, after passing them by, came back and thanked them for being there.
Wembanyama came out last again and again acknowledged them. Soon after, they were standing courtside when a familiar voice asked them to turn around.
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“Sisters, could you please pray for me?” Wembanyama asked them.
They were shocked and humbled. For a few precious moments together, they all bowed their heads and closed their eyes, the sisters asking God to give Wembanyama and the Spurs the grace and strength to play well.
“It really just felt like it was us and Wemby,” Sister Moss says.
The sisters were at Game 2 on Friday. They’re still hoping, and praying, for a Spurs win in the series – especially if the team can make it to June 13.
That day marks not only Game 5, but the feast of St. Anthony, the patron saint of San Antonio.
By Baxter Holmes, via ESPN
