Ecce ancilla Domini Behold the handmaid of the Lord · Luke 1:38
Handmaids:
Keepers of the Lamp
A sisterhood for the high school young women of a parish. They serve in the sacristy, care for the sacred linens, keep the sanctuary lamp burning, proclaim the readings at Mass, adorn the church, serve the poor, and pray together. Women of the parish mentor them as consœurs.
Why Handmaids
The first hands to care for the Body of Christ were a young woman's. Mary wrapped Him in swaddling cloths. Years later, the women who loved Him prepared linens and spices for His burial, and because they came to care for His Body, they were the first to hear that He is risen and the first sent to tell the others.
Young women today are measured constantly and asked for very little. The Church can offer them something better: sisters, real work to do in the house of God, and women who will walk with them.
Many parishes that bring the Templars to their young men ask the same question: what do we offer our young women? Handmaids is the answer: a program with its own identity, its own spirituality, and its own work, built to stand beside the Templars as a sister stands beside a brother, and complete on its own where there is no Templars chapter.
How it works, in brief
The Way of the Handmaid
Fiat. Vigil. Care. Magnificat.
Four words drawn from Mary's own life, which the sisterhood lives by.
The five works
Serve the altar and the Word · Adorn the house of God · Serve the poor · Keep vigil · Build the sisterhood.
The Rite of the Lamp
After a season as an aspirant, each young woman is received at a parish Mass. Her mentor lights her lamp, and she answers as Mary did.
Why "Keepers of the Lamp"
Three lamps stand behind the name.
- The lamp before the Lord. God commanded that a lamp burn continually before Him in the tent of meeting, kept from evening to morning (Exodus 27:20-21). The Church keeps that command today: a special lamp burns continuously before every tabernacle where the Eucharist is reserved, to show and to honor the presence of Christ (Code of Canon Law, can. 940). Handmaids help keep that lamp lit, keep the sanctuary ready, and keep the Lord attended in prayer.
- The lamps of the wise virgins. The wise virgins kept oil in their lamps, so they were ready when the Bridegroom came (Matthew 25:1-13). A Handmaid keeps her own lamp filled with prayer and the sacraments.
- The lamp each Handmaid receives. At the Rite of the Lamp, her lamp is lit and placed in her hands, and from that day she carries a light that is not her own.
A keeper is not an owner. She guards what belongs to Someone else, faithfully, whether or not anyone is watching. That is the whole vocation of a Handmaid.
The Handmaids are not a club, a committee, or a service-hours program. The sisterhood belongs to its members and is run by them. The chaplain and the consœurs (the women of the parish who mentor the Handmaids) guide, teach, and support - they do not run the chapter.
With the Templars
Handmaids is not part of the Templars organization, but the two are designed to work side by side. Where a parish has both:
- Once a month, the two chapters serve the same Mass: the young men at the altar, the young women at the ambo and in the sacristy.
- They share the Sacred Triduum, a work of mercy, and a celebration each year.
- Each keeps its own meetings, officers, and formation.
Lamplight
The monthly update from the Handmaids.