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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 11, 2026 – The celebration of the Feast of St. Dominic took on even greater significance and exuberance as Sister Jamie Caporizo, OP, made her first Profession of Vows before a packed St. Catherine Chapel at the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse August 8, 2026. 

Her proclamation of faith as she made her temporary vows was witnessed by Adrian Dominican Sisters, Sisters from other Dominican congregations and other congregations of women religious, Associates, Co-workers, family members, and friends.

In First Profession, a woman makes a formal vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience for a certain amount of time. During this continuing time of discernment, the woman and the Adrian Dominican Congregation mutually discern whether the woman’s vocation with the Adrian Dominican Sisters is a good fit for both. Ultimately, the professed Sister could discern that she is called to make Final, or Perpetual, Vows.

The presider of the Mass was Father Michael Driscoll, a priest of the Diocese of Helena, Montana, and a professor emeritus from Notre Dame University, who knew Sister Jamie since her own studies at Notre Dame.

Sister Sara Fairbanks, OP, added inspiration to the liturgy as she reflected on the readings, focusing on the Gospel story of the rich young man who could not give up his wealth to follow Jesus. “Clearly this man had not found his true purpose in life, what Jesus calls the pearl of great price, the prize of people whose lives have changed forever because they have found it,” Sister Sara said. “Jesus challenges the man and all of us to discover what is the treasure, the deep gladness God is inviting us to uncover.” 

Sister Sara, Sister Jamie’s novice director, noted that Sister Jamie has spent her years in initial formation in discernment – discerning the messages and calls of great Dominicans such as St. Dominic, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Catherine of Siena. “Today Jamie is beyond thinking about it,” and is ready to profess her vow as a Dominican Sister, Sister Sara said. 

Sister Sara offered Sister Jamie a final piece of advice as her novice director, quoting from Father Pedro Arrupe, SJ, Superior General of the Jesuits during the Second Vatican Council. “What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what gets you out of bed in the mornings, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekend, what you read, who you know, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” 

The Rite of Profession 

The Rite of Profession began with a formal examination of Sister Jamie by Prioress of the Congregation Elise D. García, OP, as to Sister Jamie’s willingness and readiness to “unite [herself] more closely to God by a bond of religious profession.” Sister Sara testified as to Sister Jamie’s readiness to profess her first vows. 

Sister Jamie then shared her intent to profess vows with the Adrian Dominican Sisters in response to God’s call. “Today I intend to ask God, our Congregation, and the Church to profess vows as a Dominican Sister,” she said. “I desire to consecrate myself to the truth, who is Christ. I seek to open myself to the transformation of the Spirit and in so doing become the hands, the feet, and the voice of Christ to those to whom I am sent ... May I be a reed of God through whom the music of God is always singing.”

The Rite continued with Sister Jamie lying prostrate as the assembly sang the Litany of Saints, calling down the support and prayers of the Dominican saints as she took this next step in her vocation. She vowed obedience to God, the Blessed Mother Mary, St. Dominic, and Sister Elise and her lawful successors. The Rite continued with the presentation of the Congregation’s logo, and signing formal profession papers by Sister Jamie, Sister Elise, Father Discoll, and Sister Jamie’s two witnesses, Sisters Tarianne DeYonker, OP, and Pat Walter, OP.  

In her affirmation of Sister Jamie’s profession, Sister Elise welcomed her into the worldwide Dominican family, noting that her many gifts – including music and service to others – would help to form that Dominican family in the years ahead.

The First Profession of Vows is a significant step in Sister Jamie’s vocation journey. She entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation in September 2023 as a Candidate, the first year of the formal initial formation process for vowed life, and in August 2024 was received as a Novice. She spent her first year as a Novice at the InterCongregational Collaborative Novitiate (ICCN) in Chicago and her second year with the Dominican Sisters of Peace in New Haven, Connecticut, learning more about the Dominican Charism.  

Ultimately, after years of mutual discernment with the Congregation as a temporary professed Dominican Sister, Sister Jamie could request final, perpetual, vows.

Sister Jamie will move to Miami, Florida, to serve as the Director of Health, Arts and Spirituality (HAS) and Coordinator for Music Ministry at Barry University, founded and sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. She will live in community with Sisters Lenor Esnard, OP, Xiomara Méndez Hernàndez, OP, and Marílin Llanes, OP.

Sister Jamie’s Background

The middle of the three children of James and Sheila Caporizo, Sister Jamie was born and raised in Stamford, Connecticut, giving her easy access to New York City. The performances she attended sparked her interest in music, leading her to earn a bachelor’s degree in music and choral conducting from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

After teaching music at her elementary school alma mater, Rippowam School, she earned a master’s degree in sacred music from the University of Notre Dame, simultaneously serving as a liturgy intern with the Sisters of the Holy Cross and continued working with the sisters after graduation.

During her time of initial discernment with the Adrian Dominican Sisters, Sister Jamie began a new ministry at Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters. Even during a pilgrimage to Assisi, she continued to feel the call to enter the Adrian Dominican Congregation.

Sister Jamie said the next chapter in her life, her ministry at Barry University, “will be a chance for me to grow in a lot of ways.” Over the years, she said, “I have felt the love, the challenge, and the commitment of the Sisters. I’m almost speechless, I’m so grateful.”

 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Jamie Caporizo, OP, second from left, holds the hand of Prioress Elise D. Garcia, OP, while professing her first vows. Formal witnesses are Sister Tarianne DeYonker, OP, holding microphone, and Sister Patricia Walter, OP.