MERIDEN - A choice between the sacred and the secular is not a decision for a nun, so Mother Shaun Vergauwan and Sister Mary Richards will not be making the trip to the Final Four this weekend in Detroit.

They were invited by UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun, who for two decades has had a special relationship with the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist. Mother Vergauwan and Sister Richards were there in St. Petersburg, Fla., when the Huskies went all the way in the NCAA tournament in 1999, Calhoun's first national championship. They were also there in San Antonio, Texas, five years later when UConn was on its way to winning it all again.

This time around, they'll be watching the games and praying for Calhoun's team in Meriden.

Mother Vergauwan and Sister Richards will remain here to receive a visit from Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who is arriving from the Vatican to speak at Boston College. Two sisters from the Franciscan order worked for Cardinal Tauran in Rome, including Sister Catherine Mary Clarke, who worked in the Vatican library, so he'll be stopping by Meriden as well.

"I hope the Cardinal likes basketball," said Sister Richards.

Facing Michigan State in Detroit on Saturday, the Huskies are going to need all the support they can get, said Mother Vergauwan, a co-founder of the Franciscan Life Center, who in 2005 was elected Mother General, overseeing nuns throughout the world.

Mother Vergauwan, who told Calhoun Monday night that she would not be able to attend the games, said he sounded optimistic about his team's chances. Calhoun is very close to this team, she said.

"He particularly feels good about this team," she said. "He really, personally, loves this group. I think this group has faced adversity."

Her absence from the stands might actually bode well for the team, Mother Vergauwan suggested. She was in attendance for two of the UConn losses during the regular season. The Huskies lost just three times during the regular season, to Pitt twice and to Georgetown. The team also lost to Syracuse in the Big East tournament.

Calhoun and Mother Vergauwan first met in 1988, when the coach spoke at the Franciscan sports banquet in Waterbury that year. After Calhoun's talk, the nuns gathered to sing the Husky Fight Song.

"They were cute, funny," wrote Calhoun in his book, "Dare to Dream." "I met Mother Shaun Vergauwan, the founder of the order, and she was wonderful. I don't know what the exact prerequisites are for sainthood, but I would nominate her in front of anyone else I've ever met. There is a sense of peace and order about her that you can just feel."

The admiration goes both ways. The sisters are big UConn fans. A Husky pennant usually is on display at the front of the center and there's a basketball court there named "Calhoun's Court." When Calhoun's players have needed to perform community service, he's sent them to the Franciscan center.

The Jim Calhoun Community Service Award is now part of the annual Franciscan sports banquet. The 24th annual is set for June 2 at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.

Five years ago, Mother Vergauwan and Sister Richards had to turn back from the Final Four almost right away because of the sudden death of a brother of the Franciscan Brothers of the Eucharist.

This time they've known well in advance their support will have to be offered from a distance.

"We're trying not to be sad," said Mother Vergauwan.

jkurz@record-journal.com

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