Sisterly love: Caldwell nuns have lived for a century and been friends nearly as long
They've been nuns for nearly nine decades. And they've been best friends for almost as long.
Fellow sisters Mary Amelia Cetera and Gerardine Mueller — 100 and 101, respectively — are the oldest nuns at the 140-year-old Sisters of Saint Dominic, a congregation of Dominican Sisters in Caldwell. They said they consider themselves blessed to have been able to spend their lives doing what they love.
On a recent day, the sisters sat side by side in matching white outfits accessorized by sensible black shoes and long silver necklaces, each with a dangling cross. The friends chatted their way amicably through an hourlong interview, which touched on their careers, friendship and spiritual lives.
Cetera boasted about her talented best friend. "She creates beautiful art, and we're all proud of her," she exclaimed, grinning at Mueller, who smiled sheepishly.
Mueller, in turn, said her best friend is admired far and wide as an educator who has touched many lives.
As they prepare for their birthdays, the centenarians of the Dominican Sisters know exactly how they will celebrate: with heaping bowls of ice cream.
Mueller, who turns 102 next month, favors vanilla, while Cetera, whose 101st birthday is in November, prefers chocolate.
The two are not under any illusion that their longevity is due to healthy habits.
"It has nothing to do with what we eat," quipped Mueller, shrugging away any notions of a strict diet or exercise regimen. "And I spend most of my time these days on my iPad."
'We are genuinely concerned about each other'
The two are the last survivors from their high school class and the oldest in their convent, which is a retirement home of sorts for nuns.
The order of Saint Dominic was founded over 800 years ago in France, but in 1853, four sisters emigrated to America from Germany to provide Catholic education to immigrant children. They became the founders of the Caldwell Dominican Sisters. Today the Caldwell congregation is 80 sisters strong. Most of the members serve in ministries pertaining to education. Mueller and Cetera are among the order's most senior members.
The women attribute their endurance to a meaningful life guided by their order's mission. They believe they're being kept alive for a purpose.
"We lead a simple and prayerful life," Cetera said. "We pray every day in the chapel."
Meuller has always appreciated her gift of life.
"I wasn't expected to make it as a child," she said. "My mother had a difficult birth. I was an ectopic pregnancy. She promised to dedicate me to the Blessed Mother and dressed me in blue and white for seven years. I believe I'm here for a special reason."
The two women met in 1937, when they were teenagers in the same high school class — at Mount St. Dominic Academy in Caldwell — and instantly became besties.
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They were drawn to one another because they had a lot in common, with similar goals and interests, Cetera said.
"We already knew at the time that we were both aspiring to become nuns," she recalled. "I thought all nuns were saints and wanted to be just like them."
Their friendship has withstood the test of time.
"That's because we are genuinely concerned about each other," said Cetera.
They joined the convent in 1939. Both have earned praise in their respective fields of education, for Cetera, and art education, for Mueller.
Cetera said the Sisters of Saint Dominic appealed to her because "this was a teaching community. If you entered it, you were expected to teach. Later they opened it to nurses and social workers."
The women went their own ways for several years as they went on to train and serve in their respective fields. But "after all these years, we ended up together," Cetera said. These days, they often pray together, and they eat meals at the same table together daily.
'I grew to love it'
Cetera earned a bachelor's degree in English from Caldwell College, the Catholic institution on whose campus the Dominican Sisters live. After earning a doctorate at Columbia University, Cetera spent four decades as a professor of education at Caldwell, which would eventually become a university, from 1959 through 2000.
She would eventually chair the school's Education Department and serve as its residence hall dean. Cetera designed Caldwell's bachelor of arts programs in both education and early childhood education and developed an internship program with the local public schools.
When she first started teaching, it was exhausting and tough.
"But I grew to love it," she said. "I was determined that my students would be good teachers, and so I really knocked myself out."
She advocated for the future teachers to gain field experience in the classroom; they never had a problem finding jobs, she said.
"It was a wonderful vocation," she said.
Joan H. Moriarty, a professor and interim associate dean of the university's School of Education, praised Cetera's commitment.
"We would not be a presence in the educational field without her foresight so many years ago. She created a legacy of love and kept connections with her many students throughout their careers, long after studying at Caldwell," she said.
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'I always wanted to be a sister'
As a child growing up in Maplewood, Mueller was a "normal kid" who loved movies, dancing and singing the popular songs.
"But I still knew what I wanted to do," she said, adding that she first started talking about becoming a nun when she was 3 years old.
"I always wanted to be a sister," Mueller said. "I had the [Benedictine] sisters in grammar school and I wanted to be just like them. I never had any doubts at all that I was going to be a sister."
"My aunt is a Dominican nun, so it runs in the family," she added. "I don't think my family was surprised, but they weren't too happy to let me go."
Mueller earned a bachelor's degree at Caldwell College, but the sisters recognized her artistic talent — a gift, she said, from her mother, who imbued her daughter with an artistic sensibility. They sent her to the University of Notre Dame for an art degree.
The decision began a career in the arts that, like her friend's, has left its mark on the Caldwell community. Mueller's artistic works around the college campus have earned acclaim. Among them are the majestic stained-glass windows and the tabernacle she designed in the chapel of St. Catherine Convent and the clerestory, or upper windows, that provide a celebration of light in the Alumni Theatre, featuring New Jersey’s Watchung mountains.
Mueller founded the Art Department at Caldwell and initiated its bachelor of fine arts, making it the first New Jersey higher-level institution to grant such a degree. She was an art professor for 34 years, and in 2017 the university paid tribute to her contributions by dedicating an art gallery in her name.
She prays over her art as she creates. "My religion infuses everything. In every piece of art, there's a piece of the divine."
"Sister Gerardine Mueller and Sister Mary Amelia Cetera have had a lasting impact on generations of Caldwell University alumni, many who have stayed in touch with them — their beloved professors," said Sheila N. O'Rourke, vice president for administration and operations at the school. "We can’t imagine how many students’ lives the sisters have touched after serving for so many decades."
Reflecting on their years of service all these decades later, neither woman could think of a single regret.
"I love my life," said Mueller. "I am grateful to have lived this long and to have met so many people and had my wits about me and being able to do all this artwork. My mother would be proud."
Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: yellin@northjersey.com
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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Dominican Sisters of Caldwell NJ nuns are friends nearly 9 decades
