PARTNER
WITH US:
To Repair and Renovate Our Motherhouse
Mother
Catherine’s Dream Lives On!
Who would
have dreamed that on May 26, 1884,
the little nun from Jersey City
traveling all the way out to Caldwell
by horse and buggy,
would be taking a huge step
in making a dream come true!
When Mother Catherine Muth, our foundress, witnessed the poverty and poor health of her sisters living in Jersey City, she secured a piece of land in Caldwell (“the Denver of the East” because of its fresh air and altitude). With courage and vision, she moved her frail sisters and the novices there and began immediate planning to provide the young congregation with a new Motherhouse.
As the Motherhouse, designed to resemble the original monastery in Regensberg, Germany, began to take shape, the sisters hauled stones and brick up the hill from the railroad station below. By 1893, the new Motherhouse served as home for the
sisters, as their center of prayer and spirituality, and as a place of healing for the infirm sisters. The original building had porches on the first and second floors, so that sisters recovering from tuberculosis could enjoy the fresh air. The Chapel, on the second floor, offered the sisters prayer space in a cloistered setting.
Over and over again, the sisters have changed the ways they look and the methods they use in teaching, in response to the needs of the times. Our Caldwell Motherhouse, too, has changed so as to be useful for the Mission:
Rooms that once housed elementary school classrooms have become offices.
The once-cloistered Chapel, community room and refectory now host groups of people from parishes, other schools, and even other religious communities as they meet and pray together.
The floor where infirm sisters were nursed back to health now houses a lively community of active and healthy sisters. Our frail and infirm sisters live and are cared for in a separate building, St. Catherine Convent and Health Care Center.
The second floor porches are long gone,
victims of weather and aging wood.
The Angelus bell rests on the front lawn, reminding us of the many people it has called to prayer, but no longer safe in its high tower. Instead, recorded bells and hymns ring out from the tower calling us to prayer!
As parish convents become less available for sisters’ living, our need for housing increases. Currently, our 116-year-old Motherhouse is undergoing major repair and renovation so that it can continue to house sisters and serve God’s People. Our construction plans for this repair and renovation work honor our congregational commitment to reverence and care for our natural environment.
We need your financial support now!
The fourth floor walls (photo - top right) have been demolished down to the sturdy oak beams forming its skeleton.
Asbestos has been removed and electrical wiring and improved plumbing are being installed.
Appropriate heating and air systems will be installed.
The tiny cells (photo - bottom right) built to accommodate women less than five feet tall, are being expanded to provide safe and adequate space for sisters today.
21st century fire codes demand many details (sprinklers, fire doors, enclosed stairwells, etc.) not needed 116 years ago.
Our lovely Motherhouse
will still look like the monastery of our origins
in Germany --- from the outside!
But inside it continues to evolve to meet the needs of sisters proclaiming the Gospel by serving God’s People. We still labor among the newly-arrived immigrants of our area in Jersey City, in Newark, in rural areas and in the towns of West Essex. We also serve first and second generation children of immigrants.Join your willing heart and generous spirit with our Caldwell Vision!
Your financial gift enables us to carry on Mother Catherine's Dream
by continuing the Dominican Mission
which has radiated out of our Caldwell Motherhouse for 116 years.Click HERE! to print our special Motherhouse Renovation Donation Form