Berta Zeller was born in a small Catholic farming town, Immmenhofe-Pfohren, Baden, Germany, on September 1, 1908. She was the youngest of six children, four girls and two boys, born to Berta (Roth) and Joseph Zeller.

“My mother’s prayerful attitude was an inspiration for us,” she wrote in her autobiography. “We had a coocoo clock and when it would strike the hour, my mother would call us from playing outside and say, ‘Children, we are one hour closer to eternity!’ I would protest, ‘I don’t want to die yet!”’

In 1923, Sr. M. Bernard Wilhelm went to Germany to invite young women to come to America to enter our community. Caroline, Berta’s older sister, decided to join the group that came with her. Berta, who from her childhood wanted to give her life totally to God, realized that she wanted to follow her sister’s example. She did so two years later, although, as she wrote, “I was of a lively disposition and did not want to go so far. After crying most of the night before, I felt strong the next morning, and left my home on Nov. 3, 1925, at the age of 17.”

“Abbot Philip and Father Patrick of Conception Abbey came from Rome to accompany the three of us (one was our Sr. M. Donata) on our journey. It was during this long journey across the ocean that I learned how to meditate. Oh the greatness of God is wonderful! When we arrived at Clyde on Nov. 21, Mother M. Dolorosa and my sister, now Sr. M. Bona, welcomed us, and Father Lukas Etlin gave us Holy Communion. As soon as I entered the convent 1 felt that this was the place God wanted me.”

Berta entered the novitiate on August 21, 1926. She received the name of Sr. M. Hilaria when sshe professed her first vows on September 3, 1927; her final profession was on September 17. 1932.

“From the time I was a postulant I worked in many places: in the kitchen, milking the cows, making the sisters’ collariums, laundry, and in the garden. In 1936 I went to our convent in Tucson until 1954, when 1 returned to Clyde to take charge of the laundry and to help in the printery. I often helped to translate the German letters that came to our Correspondence Department. I was also assigned to help make altar breads.”

Sr. M. Hilaria was always eager to learn. As a young girl she completed eight years of school that included courses in cooking, sewing, and bookkeeping. As a young religious she applied herself to learn English, but continued her reading of spiritual books in German. In 1984, she took a course, Bereavement, a Living Experience. She said, “I need to get ready for my heavenly home and help others to do so.”

Sr. M. Hilaria came to Saint Benedict Health Care Center on Nov. 4, 1990 from Clyde, where she had been helping in the Altar Bread Department. In her last years, she spoke in German, and then not at all, except with her sparkling eyes. In Dec. 28, 1997, as the monastic community finished singing the Canticle of Zachary at Lauds, Sr. M. Hilaria entered eternal life.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in the St. Louis Monastery Chapel on Dec. 30, 1997, with burial in Mount Calvary Cemetery at Clyde the following day. For her funeral Mass, the Gospel of the Beatitudes, Mt. 5:1-8, was chosen, The simplicity of her life fits the pattern of the beatitudes, which she lived out in her joyfulness, her smile, and her laughter.