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August 13, 2026, Adrian, Michigan – The weekend of the Feast of St. Dominic began on a joyful note August 7, 2026, as Elizabeth Guerrero was received into the novitiate during a simple but meaningful ritual during Vespers, evening prayer. 

Reception into the Novitiate is a key step in initial formation leading to vowed life within a congregation. It is when a woman is accepted as part of the religious community and charged with learning more about that community through structured study before taking the next step, First Profession of Vows. After spending a year as a Candidate in Adrian, Sister Elizabeth will spend the coming year at the InterCongregational Collaborative Novitiate (ICCN) in Chicago.

During the ritual, Sister Patricia “Patty” Harvat, OP, offered a reflection on the mystery of Elizabeth’s call. Noting that the iconic Route 66 will turn 100 this year, Sister Patty spoke of Elizabeth’s journeys over the years. 

“Elizabeth and her family traveled their own iconic route each summer: Highway 83 between Crystal City [Texas] and the northern states,” she said. “The entire family traveled together as was customary for migrant families.” On the way back home, a peak moment for Elizabeth’s father was the sight of a hill, “the Hill of Smiles,” from which he could see the lights of Crystal City. “This meant he had safely delivered his family home one again.”

With a nod to Sister Elizabeth’s Mexican-American heritage, Sister Patty spoke of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared for the first time in 1531 on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City to a humble indigenous man, Juan Diego. Sister Patty assured Sister Elizabeth that “Mary speaks to you as she did to Juan Diego: ‘Am I not your mother?’ She stayed and has prayed all these years with you, Elizabeth. She will continue to stay with you in the new life.” 

Sister Patty noted the “twists and turns” of Sister Elizabeth’s own life as she entered the mystery of her call to follow Christ on a different route, discernment with the Adrian Dominican Sisters. “May St. Dominic be the beacon of light to you, showing you the ‘Hill of Smiles,’ to the light beyond the hill to know you are safely home,” Sister Patty concluded.

During the Rite of Reception, Prioress Elise D. García, OP, formally examined Sister Elizabeth on her firm intention “to walk faithfully in newness of life” in the Adrian Dominican Congregation. Formally given the title Sister, Sister Elizabeth affirmed her desire to be received into the Adrian Dominican family as a novice. 

Sister Elise presented Sister Elizabeth with the Constitution of the Adrian Dominican Sisters and asked the new Novice about her willingness “to study and reflect on this Constitution and order [her] life on it faithfully.” Finally, Sister Elizabeth was clothed in the preaching garment as a sign of her desire to preach God’s word as a Dominican Sister.

Sister Elizabeth has already had a full year of discernment as a Candidate, living in community in Adrian; ministering in the food pantry of Holy Family Parish in Adrian, tutoring an adult learner in English, and serving in the migrant program through Holy Family. She has also become better acquainted with Sisters residing at the Motherhouse Campus through discussions of the Dominican Charism, other study groups, and informal meals and visits. 

This is not the first time that Sister Elizabeth has been a novice. She entered the Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence, a small congregation based in San Antonio Texas, and was received into the novitiate in 2011. Her ministries included teaching, social services, and parish ministry. 

Desiring a different expression of community life, Sister Elizabeth left that congregation, continuing as Executive Director of the Asociatíon de Hermanas Latinas Misioneras en América (AHLMA). She came to know the Adrian Dominican Sisters when she served on the board of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).

“I’ve never lived outside my own culture” until her candidacy year, when she lived in community with three Adrian Dominican Sisters, Sister Elizabeth said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to grow in the experience of interculturality. My hope is that I can go deeper into the vows and be able to offer my experience to the [other novices] .... Whatever is lined up for me, I’m sure I’ll benefit. It’s going to be a full, productive, rich year.”  

Single young Catholic women who wish to discern a call to religious life are invited to contact the Adrian Dominican Sisters by emailing [email protected].

 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Sara Fairbanks, OP, left, and Sister Tarianne DeYonker, OP, right, help to clothe Sister Elizabeth Guerrero into a preaching garment as part of Sister Elizabeth’s Reception into the Novitiate.

August 13, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – The Adrian Dominican Sisters formally received Sister Jamie Caporizo as a novice on August 10, 2024, during a special ritual held in the context of Vespers, Evening Prayers. 

Sister Jamie will begin the first of her two years as a novice later this August, when she travels to Chicago to participate in the Inter-Congregational Collaborative Novitiate (ICCN). During this year, Sister Jamie and novices from other congregations of Catholic Sisters will live in community and focus on the elements of religious life, such as prayer, theological study at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, formal weekly meetings with other novices, and spiritual direction. Each novice will also learn about the spirituality of her own congregation.  

“I’m grateful for all the opportunities for growth that I’ve been given this year,” Sister Jamie said. As a Candidate, she learned about the Congregation through various experiences, often visiting Sisters in ministries from Adrian and Flint, Michigan, to the Dominican Republic. “Each of our Sisters and our Associates has varied gifts and varied talents, and yet at the heart of it all was our mission,” she said.

Sister Jamie, a native of Stamford, Connecticut, began her formal discernment process with the Adrian Dominican Sisters a year ago with her entrance as a Candidate. After earning a bachelor's degree in music education and choral conducting from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, she taught music at her alma mater, Rippowam School in Stamford, Connecticut. 

While earning her master’s degree in sacred music from the University of Notre Dame, Sister Jamie served as a liturgy intern with the Sisters of the Holy Cross. She continued working for the Sisters for five years as Director of Music and Liturgy. While discerning her call to enter the Adrian Dominican Sisters, she began a new ministry at Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania, first as a campus minister and then as Senior Director of Mission and Ministry.

Sister Patricia Walter, OP, Sister Jamie’s mentor and Dominican Charism Formator, welcomed the assembly to the Rite of Reception and affirmed Sister Jamie’s readiness to begin the next step of her initial formation. “From the very first week, she has said ‘we’ when talking about this Congregation and offered her considerable gifts to us,” Sister Patricia noted. “She has wholeheartedly embraced community life with Sisters in Siena House and here on campus. She has warm-heartedly responded to needs in a variety of places, ministering creatively and effectively.”

Sister Patricia Harvat, OP, in her reflection during the service, agreed. “You are ready, Jamie, for God to write the next chapter in your life,” she said. “The margins are clean and space open for the unfolding words of love, mercy, and hope. Your desire to continue this Dominican journey is bold.” 

During the Rite of Reception, Prioress Elise D. García, OP, formally examined Sister Jamie on her desire to be “received into the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Adrian as a Novice, and to experience more fully our way of life in faithful observance of our Rule and Constitution.” 

Sister Jamie received a copy of the Congregation’s Constitution with the instruction to study and reflect upon the document as she continues to discern her call to religious life. She was also presented with and clothed in a preaching garment, with the words of Sister Elise: “Receive this garment, sign of your desire to preach God’s word.”

Sister Jamie will travel to the Inter-Congregational Collaborative Novitiate in Chicago on August 24, 2024, accompanied by Sister Sara Fairbanks, OP, Novice Director.  

The Adrian Dominican Sisters encourage single Catholic women, ages 19 to 35, to consider whether God is calling them to vowed Dominican life. A weekend retreat, “Come and See for Yourself,” is at Weber Retreat and Conference Center September 20-22, 2024. For information, contact Sister Katherine Frazier, OP, at [email protected] or register online at https://tinyurl.com/ADSDiscern.