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September 11, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – The Adrian Dominican Congregation welcomed a new candidate during a prayer service at the Adrian Motherhouse September 8, 2025.

“I desire to grow in authenticity, speak my truth, share my gifts in service and prayer. I ask to walk together in community, in challenge that is mutual, caridad amistad, and to find friendships along the way,” said Elizabeth Guerrero during the Rite of Entrance into Candidacy. The rite is the first step in a formation process that could lead Elizabeth to taking her first profession of vows with the Adrian Dominican Sisters. 

As a symbol of her desire for entrance, Elizabeth knocked on the door of St. Catherine Chapel and was admitted by Sister Tarianne DeYonker, OP, Director of Candidacy. During a formal examination by Prioress Elise D. García, OP, Sister Tarianne attested to Elizabeth’s readiness to begin a year of discernment as a candidate. 

“In faithfulness you have listened to God’s call and have responded with a ‘yes’ to continue with us in a relationship of mutual discernment for vowed membership,” Sister Elise said to Elizabeth. “We welcome you into our midst to share faith and life in the mission of Jesus.” After accepting a copy of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Mission Statement from Sister Elise, Elizabeth joined the assembled Sisters in proclaiming the Mission Statement.

Elizabeth will spend her candidacy year volunteering at the St. Mary Food Pantry and Dire Needs program of Holy Family Parish in Adrian, tutoring at the Adrian Rea Literacy Center, helping set up new art displays for the art gallery in Madden Hall at the Motherhouse, visiting Sisters living at the Dominican Life Center, and studying Spanish and the history of the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

The fifth of the six children of Jesus L. and Élida C. Guerrero, Elizabeth was raised in Crystal City, Texas. There, she attended school during the school year and, in the summers, was a migrant worker with her family, working on farms in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Indiana. She attended junior college and transferred to Minnesota State University in Moorhead, where she studied commercial art.

Elizabeth began her career working at a small boutique publishing agency; an advertising agency in San Antonio, Texas; as a freelance graphic designer and publisher; and for a small newspaper in her hometown. 

Eventually, that work “wasn’t fulfilling anymore,” Elizabeth said. “I was looking for something more.” She entered the Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence, a small congregation based in San Antonio. She was received into the novitiate in 2011 and made her first profession of vows in 2012. Her ministries included teaching, social services, and parish ministry.

Desiring a different expression of community life, Elizabeth left the Missionary Catechists and sought another congregation of Catholic Sisters. She visited several congregations before discerning her call to enter the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

Shortly before entering, Elizabeth completed her ministry as a lay woman as Executive Director of the Asociación de Hermanas Latinas Misioneras en América (AHLMA), a national organization, primarily for Sisters coming from Latin America and missioned to the United States. The organization is now open to U.S.-born Latinas and to U.S. Sisters who find themselves the only women of color in their community, Elizabeth said. As a representative of AHLMA, Elizabeth served on the Board of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), nominated by leaders from several congregations, including the Adrian Dominican Sisters, she said. She was involved in administration, but particularly enjoyed developing programs and meeting Sisters.

“I am very happy to be here with the Adrian Dominican Sisters,” Elizabeth said. “The welcome and reception have been warm and inviting, affirming that my gifts and presence matter. I see this community as a place where I can continue to grow in authenticity, service, and faith.”   
 

Caption for above feature photo: Prioress Elise D. García, OP, right, formally examines Elizabeth Guerrero about her intention to enter the Adrian Dominican Congregation.

August 26, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – Dominican artists – sisters, friars, laity, and associates from diverse congregations and provinces – came together in late July for the annual Gathering of the Dominican Institute for Arts (DIA) at Weber Retreat and Conference Center in Adrian.

Under the theme, “Preaching for Times Such as These: Preach the Word of God through Your Art,” the Dominican artists gathered to listen to inspiring input, participate in art workshops, share their art and experiences, pray together, form community, and celebrate together.

DIA members include “painters, musicians, dancers, sculptors, film makers, potters, poets, actors, composers, writers, designers of sacred space, dramatists, and any other art form you can imagine,” as well as those who appreciate and support the arts, according to the DIA website.

Awards were presented on the first evening with Adrian Dominican Sister Rosemary Asaro, OP, receiving the 2025 Spirit Award. The award is given to a DIA member who has “enriched the organization by going the extra mile, who does the chore unbeknownst to many, who does the little, insignificant jobs that seem unimportant,” said Sister Elizabeth Slenker, OP, a Sparkill Dominican Sister and then President of the DIA. 

Sister Rosemary became involved in the DIA through photographer Adrian Dominican Sister Joella Miller, OP. She first attended a DIA gathering four years ago and served on the planning committee for the 2024 gathering in Adrian. An art supporter as well as a musician through her cantoring, Sister Rosemary said she was surprised to receive the award, which recognized her willing presence and ability to respond when needed. “I’m grateful that I still have the time and energy to be able to be of service to others,” Sister Rosemary said. “I’ve learned that often it’s the small things that count more than the big things.”

During the opening session, Pat Daly, an Associate of the Dominican Sisters of Peace, received the Fra Angelico Award. Named for the great 15th-century Dominican Renaissance artist, the award is the highest bestowed on a DIA member. 

“This award is presented every year to an artist who has exemplified Fra Angelico’s dedication to preaching through the arts,” Sister Elizabeth said. “The artist exemplifies the ideals of the DIA.” She noted that Pat “always said yes to working hard and enabling the DIA to grow and flourish.” She added that Pat is a “phenomenal preacher, authentic, very inclusive, faithful to the Dominican pillars [of prayer, study, community, and ministry or preaching], and has worked to create art.” Pat is a Past President of the DIA and preaches through poetry and nature photography.

Pat learned that she had received the Fra Angelico Award while attending the gathering virtually and expressed her surprise and gratitude for the award.

The first full day of the gathering began with prayer and a keynote address by Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Joeann Daley, OP, whose artistic work includes etchings, monoprints, lithographs, mixed media, and photo collages. She focused her talk on thresholds and milestones, noting that her first thresholds were her youth, growing up on a farm and “being close to earth,” her call to Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, and from there to her ministry in Anaconda, Montana. 

Sister Joeann recalled transforming Anaconda – a town where the principal work was smelting copper – into a place where art was created and treasured. During a nine-month strike in Anaconda, Sister Joeann organized an art center and encouraged the residents to become involved in art. 

Sister Joeann also organized a traveling exhibit of the art created by the people of Anaconda. This caught the attention of the State Art Council, which hired her to travel around Montana – driving 100,000 miles in six years – to discover or foster art in the small towns.  

“It was an exciting time, because there was so much in some of the farthest, out-of-the-way places,” Sister Joeann recalled. “I feel very privileged to go to towns that most people go through on their way to somewhere else. I’ve seen dreams actualized.”  

She encouraged the artists to use their artistic vision to make a difference. “The nature of the artist is to see things in a different way,” she said. “We have a role in the broader community because our eyes are important and we can see possibilities.”

In the afternoon, the Dominican artists took the opportunity to explore new forms of art. Workshops at Weber Center focused on sacred movement and receiving poetry, while the nearby Adrian Center for the Arts hosted workshops by DIA members on glass fusion, clay creation, and metal smithing. 

On the final day, DIA members elected a new Board for the coming year: Associate John Mascazine (Peace), President; Sister Nancy Murray, OP (Adrian), Vice President; Sister Elizabeth Slenker, OP (Sparkill), Treasurer and Membership; Sister Rosemary Asaro, OP (Adrian), Secretary; and Sister Xiomara Méndez-Hernández, OP (Adrian), Father Rudolf Lowenstein, OP (Province of England), and Associate Mark Hanes (Peace), members at large.

The event concluded with liturgy and an evening of celebration and karaoke. 

Membership to the DIA is open to Dominican sisters, friars, laity, and associates who are committed to preaching through the arts in any art form, or to those who are supportive of the arts. More information is available on the DIA’s membership page.
 

Caption for above feature photo: Participants in the 2025 Dominican Institute for the Arts Gathering.