We have noted with deep satisfaction that some National
Spiritual Assemblies have already initiated plans to befittingly commemorate
the Fiftieth Anniversary of the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha and the inception of
the Formative Age of the Baha'i Dispensation.
We feel it would be highly fitting for the three days, 26 to
28 November, during which the Day of the Covenant and the Anniversary of the
Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha occur, to be set aside this year by all National
Spiritual Assemblies for specially arranged gatherings and conferences,
convened either nationally or locally or both, on the three following main
themes: The Baha'i Covenant, The Formative Age, and The Life of 'Abdu'l-Baha.
We hope that these gatherings will serve to intensify the
consecration of the workers in the Divine Vineyard in every land, and provide
them with the opportunity, especially in the watches of the night of that
Ascension, when they will be commemorating the passing hour of our Beloved
Master, to renew their pledge to Baha'u'llah and to rededicate themselves to
the accomplishment of the as yet unfulfilled goals of the Nine Year Plan.
The Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land, the members of the
Universal House of Justice, and all resident and visiting believers at the
World Centre will, on that memory-laden night, visit the Shrine of that Mystery
of God on behalf of the entire Community of the Blessed Beauty and will
supplicate for the stalwart champions of the Faith labouring in the forefront
of so many fields of service and winning fresh triumphs in His Name, for the
self-sacrificing believers without whose support and sustained assistance most
of these victories could not be achieved, and for those who will be inspired to
join the ranks of the active and dedicated promoters of His glorious Cause at
this crucial stage in the development of the Plan, that we may all meet our
obligations and discharge our sacred trust, thus making it possible in the
latter months of the Plan for our entire resources to be devoted to an even
greater expansion of the Faith in its onward march towards the spiritual
conquest of the planet.
With loving Baha'i greetings,
The Universal House of Justice
(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)
