Welcoming New Members into Our Lady’s Handmaids
On Sunday, November 3, in the Shrine Church of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a number of young girls and their families joined Cardinal Burke and the Norbertine Fathers for a joyous occasion. Our Lady’s Handmaids held their annual induction ceremony, welcoming new members and acknowledging some senior members.
To Be More Like Mary
For seven years, the Shrine has been home to Our Lady’s Handmaids, a girls’ group co-founded by Cardinal Burke and Lisa Ilfrey, who continues to lead. The group’s primary purpose is catechetical, helping the girls to deepen their spiritual lives while having a good time together; the Handmaids gather twice a month to pray, care for the Shrine Church on first Saturdays, and enjoy a variety of crafts on third Mondays. “The group is founded on both prayer and service and is Marian in character,” explains Fr. Zachary Edgar, Director of Sacred Liturgy.
And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
LK 1:38
Bimonthly Meeting
The Handmaids’ families also come together and share in the good work. Each Handmaid is accompanied by a parent or other adult family member, so as to help keep the large group organized; membership “varies each year, but it’s usually between twenty-five and thirty-five,” says Lisa Ilfrey. Families also take turns contributing snacks for the Handmaids’ bimonthly meetings. In addition, the mothers and other women who bring the girls join in the First Saturday devotions and their service of cleaning and beautifying the church. Thus the group draws young ladies and their families together in Our Lady’s Shrine, in community, prayer, and good works.
Yearly Induction
The process of joining the Handmaids is well suited to the liturgical culture of the Shrine: New members are welcomed every year in the Shrine Church, in a ceremonial induction that includes prayer, song, and reflection, with Cardinal Burke himself presiding. This year’s induction followed the same pattern. After the Norbertine Fathers sang Solemn Vespers, His Eminence gave a brief homily. The induction itself followed, welcoming four new members. Like all new Handmaids, each received the group’s Handbook and a holy card with the Sacred Heart of Jesus on one side and the Morning Offering on the other.
Knowing Mary More Deeply
In addition, for the first time, two of the older girls chose to become “Rose Level” Handmaids. This step involves completing St. Louis de Montfort’s Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary prior to promotion. At the ceremony, the new “Rose” members receive newly blessed Miraculous Medals and “are encouraged to … lead the other Handmaids by example,” as Fr. Edgar says. This extra step, Father points out, is “in no way mandatory for group members,” nor does it elevate them above their peers; after all, they are all “handmaids” like their Mother for whom they are named (Lk 1:38). It is simply a fitting way, in this group devoted to Our Lady, to encourage members to know her more deeply.
Service to Each Other and the Community
As the Shrine honors all significant events with the beauty of sacred ritual—various kinds of solemn Masses, relic venerations, processions through the grounds—the ceremony for the Handmaids’ induction shows that their commitment is worth acknowledging and celebrating. In taking an active part in the life of the Shrine, they are able to give loving service not only to Jesus through Mary, and to each other, but to the Shrine community as well. When they publicly come together in Our Lady’s name, the Handmaids “let their light shine before men” (Mt. 5:16), as Fr. Edgar says:
The ability for these young ladies to come together as a group and be united in their devotions to Our Lady is an excellent witness to the Faith, as is their public service within the Church itself, where pilgrims can be encouraged and edified by the generosity of the next generation of Catholics.
At the induction, then, the Handmaids and the Shrine express their joy and gratitude for those who come to participate in this program, and newcomers are received with loving honor, surrounded by their community’s prayers.
To learn more about Our Lady’s Handmaids, contact Lisa Ilfrey at [email protected].
