Melissa Blankestyn - now officially Sister Melissa - completed her candidacy and was accepted as a novice by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield during the Rite of Initiation Aug. 7 at Sacred Heart Convent in Springfield. She now begins a two-year period of prayer, study, and integration into the life of the Springfield Dominican congregation.

{mosimage}Sister Melissa is the daughter of Steve and Mary Kay Blankestyn of Bourbonnais. She is a clarinetist and holds a bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master's degree in music education from VanderCook College of Music, Chicago.

Before beginning her candidacy with the Dominicans in August 2006, she was the orchestra director and the assistant band director at Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School, 2003-2006. She also worked as band director at Central Junior High School, Steger, 1998-2003. She moved to Springfield and began her period of candidacy at the Dominican motherhouse in August 2006.

Sister Melissa will spend the first year of her novitiate at the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate (CDN) in St. Louis, together with novices from other U.S. Dominican congregations. The women will focus on the study of the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, learn more about the history and spirituality of the Order of Preachers (the official name of the Dominican order) and participate in a weekly inter-community novitiate program that involves novices from women's and men's religious communities in the St. Louis metropolitan area. During the second year she will return to the motherhouse for part of the year and also spend some time living in one of the Dominican's smaller convents becoming more familiar with the experience of daily ministry and community life.

For more information on Dominican life and vocation, visit www.SpringfieldOP.org or by contact Sister Lori Kirchman, OP, or (217) 787-0481.