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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.