18 January 1923: To the Baha’is throughout the Pacific Islands

The beloved of the Lord and handmaids of the Merciful throughout the Pacific Islands, Care of the members of the American Spiritual National Assembly.

Beloved co-workers in the Vineyard of God!

Though pressed on all sides by my manifold duties. yet I can always find the time to devote my attention to the interests of those faraway friends who though distant in body are yet at heart so near and dear to us all.

To realize that at this present hour, a company of steadfast and zealous lovers of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are day and night absorbed by their one thought of earnest service to the Cause in those uttermost corers of the globe, is the highest inspiration and the greatest encouragement in the great task that lies before me.

I am well aware of the Divine Bounties that have been showered upon you in the past and I am confident that every one of you, realizing now more than ever before the significance of these bountiful gifts, will arise with greater selflessness and increased determination to bring this noble task entrusted to him by our beloved Master to a speedy and glorious consummation.

I shall be most pleased and gratified to receive a detailed and comprehensive report of all your activities, of your achievements in the past, your services at present, and your plans for the future.

Those distant islands, the object of our Master’s love and tender care, occupy a warm and abiding place in our hearts, and their very names evoke within us so high a sense of hope and admiration that the passing of time and the vicissitudes of life can never weaken or remove

Assuring you of my constant prayers on your behalf, I am your devoted brother in His service,

Shoghi

(‘Messages to the Antipodes’)

16 January 1923: To the Baha’is throughout the United States and Canada

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the United States and Canada. [1]

Beloved Brethren and Sisters in 'Abdu'l-Baha:

Our dear friend, Jinab-i-Fadil-i-Mazindarani, accompanied by his family, has gladly and gratefully responded to the kind invitation of the American friends to visit them once more and extend his helping hand to the many friends who are so faithfully labouring throughout that continent for the Cause of Baha'u'llah.

Deeply appreciative of the sentiments of warm and abiding affection which his co workers of that land have abundantly shown him in the past, fired with the zeal of service which the passing of our Beloved has kindled in every heart and hopeful of the immediate future of the Cause in those regions, he is proceeding to America with the sole purpose of promoting far and wide and with greater efficiency and vigour the all important work of Teaching.

As to the extent of his sojourn, the details of his travel, his plans for visiting the various spiritual centers and all other matters relating to his visit, I have left them all to his own discretion, that he may, after consultation with the various Spiritual Assemblies do as he deems best and most serviceable to the interests of the Cause in that land.

That all the friends may realize more fully the urgent and supreme necessity of Teaching the Cause in these days, that they may arise to inaugurate a more strenuous, systematized and extensive campaign of service -- these are the high aims he has set before himself and which he intends, with the unfailing help and wholehearted support of every believer in America, to achieve in the immediate future.

May his second visit to your shores mark, in its character and results, a new and memorable era in the history of the Cause in that great country.

Your brother and co worker,

Haifa, Palestine,

January 16th 1923.

Shoghi

[1] Brought to America by Jinab-i-Fadil

(Star of the West, Vol. 14, April, 1923; ‘Baha’i Administration’)

9 January 1923: To the Baha'is of India and Burmah

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout India and Burmah, Care of the members of the Spiritual Assembly.

Beloved co-workers in the Vineyard of God!

It has been my great pleasure and privilege to send you, since my return to the Holy Land, first my general message of confidence and of love addressed to all believers throughout the East, and later another letter wherein I appeal in particular to those faithful lovers of His Cause in that vast and distant dominion to labour whole-heartedly and to the very end for the diffusion of His Light and the spread of His Cause. Remembering, however, the few among my friends in that land who are as yet unfamiliar with the Persian Tongue, I have thought of sending these few lines to them in particular and through them to the rest of my brethren and sisters in those regions who, despite the diversity of tongue, of race and custom are all united at heart and animated by one common desire to uplift humanity and carry out His Divine Purpose for this world.

What an alluring field of service India with all its possibilities unfolds to our eyes at the present time and how vast are the opportunities of sowing the seeds of unity and loving kindness in the hearts of its divers peoples!

True, that land seems now unhappily to be plunged in the darkness of prejudice, hate and mistrust, yet however dark the immediate prospect may appear, our confidence remains unshaken that ere long these mists shall clear away, the dawn of a New Day shall break upon that land and the Rays of this Divine Revelation shall make of India a spiritually-quickened, peaceful and united country.

8 January 1923: To the Baha’is in a number of cities in America and Canada's St. John, N.B

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful in Asbury Park, N. Ga.; Beverly Salem, Mass.; Bisbee, Ariz.; Buffalo, N. Y.; Eliot, Maine; Cambri, Penn.; Fernandina, Fla.; Fruitport, Mich.; Grand Rapids, Mich. Geyserville, Cal.; Haven, Mich.; Haverhill, Mass.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Johnstown, N. Y.; Miami, Fla.; Milwaukee, Wis.; New Haven, Conn.; Omaha, Neb.; Okanagan, Wash.; Peoria, Ill.; San Diego, Cal.; Santa Barbara, Cal.; Santa Paula, Cal.; Santa Rosa, Cal.;  Springfield, Ill; St. John, N.B; St. Louis, Mo.; St. Paul, Minn.; Trenton, N. Y.; Worcester, Mass.      

Care of tile members of the National Spiritual Assembly.

Dearest Fellow workers in the Vineyard of God:

Though your number in each of these cities be small and limited, yet by virtue of that Celestial Potency bequeathed to every one of you by our departed Master, you are assured that ere long your small company shall expand and wield such power and influence as no earthly power can ever hope for or attain. Who can doubt that he is ever watching from his Station on High over his scattered fold and is guiding and strengthening his faithful lovers who toil and labour for the fulfillment of his Word and the realization of his Purpose for mankind?

As we observe the sad conditions of the world and the complexity of the problems that are besetting humanity, we may at times lose heart and grow forgetful of the promised dawn of the New Day, so repeatedly and emphatically foretold in the Sacred Writings. But we need only refer to some of the earliest writings of our beloved Master to regain that confidence which the vicissitudes of the world, however distressing, can never shake. Are not these words wherein he assures us of the onward march of the Cause -- a march which no one can resist and which is sure to lead humanity to its glorious destiny?

"Now in the world of being, the Hand of Divine Power hath firmly laid the foundations of this all highest bounty and this wondrous gift. Whatsoever is latent in the innermost of this Holy Cycle shall gradually appear and be made manifest, for now is but the beginning of its growth and the day-spring of the revelation of its signs. Ere the close of this century and of this age it shall be made clear and evident how wondrous was that springtide and how heavenly was that gift!”

5 January 1923: To the Baha'is of Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

The glory of the All-Glorious rest upon them!

Beloved brethren and sisters in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá!

His honor, Jináb-i ‘Abdu’l-Ḥusayn-í Avárih, fired with the spirit of service and teaching which the passing of our beloved Master has kindled in every heart, is proceeding to Europe and will visit every Bahá’í centre in that great continent, that he may with the aid of the many friends in those regions raise the Call of Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá and stimulate interest in the Cause of God. He is indeed qualified for such an eminent noble task and I am confident that by the Grace of God and with the whole-hearted assistance of the loved ones of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, he may be enabled to promote far and wide the universal Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

His wide experience and familiarity with the various aspects of the Movement, his profound and extensive knowledge of its history; his association with some of the early believers, the pioneers and martyrs of the Cause will I am sure to appeal to every one of you and will serve to acquaint you still further with the more intimate and tragic side of this remarkable Movement.

May his sojourn in your country lend a fresh impetus to the onward march of the Cause in the West and arouse widespread interest in the history as well as the principles of the Bahá’í Movement! 

Shoghi 

(‘The Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 2’)

5 January 1923: To the Baha’is of Cleveland

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. Care of the members of the Spiritual Assembly.

My beloved friends:

I trust now that I have returned refreshed and strengthened from my needed retirement, I shall very soon hear from you such news as shall encourage and strengthen me in my labours for His Holy Cause.

I look forward with eager anticipation to the welcome news of increased unity among the loved ones of God, of renewed ardour in their ceaseless service to the Cause and of crowning achievements in their field of service throughout that country.

True, in this day the Light of the Covenant is hidden from mortal eyes, yet the unfading Splendour of His Spirit, freed from earthy limitations, shines more brilliantly than ever before and is sure to guide our steps if we but seek His Guidance and walk steadfastly in His Way.

May the radiance of His Inspiration illumine our hearts and the hope of Eternal Reunion be our stay and solace in these days of bereavement and service to His Cause.

Supplicating the Divine Favours on your behalf,

I am your brother in His Service,

Shoghi

Haifa, Palestine,

January 5, 1923

(Shoghi Effendi, Star of the West, Vol. 13, March 1923)

2 January 1923: To the Baha'is of Canada

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the Dominion of Canada, c/o the members of the Spiritual Assembly in Montreal 

Dear friends!

It is a great pleasure and privilege to me to enter into direct and I trust permanent correspondence with those faithful fiends of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, who , though few in number and scattered over that vast and flourishing country, will I trust act as a powerful leaven to the mass of that spiritually-minded people.

Though its people be firmly entrenched in their religious sectarianism and strongly attached to their religious doctrines and traditions, yet who can doubt that with courage and persistence, kindliness and wisdom, the all-conquering words of Baha’u'llah can fail to break down all these barriers of prejudice and religious exclusiveness and conquer this long-standing stronghold of sectarian belief!

Surely the efficacy of the universal Teachings of Baha’u'llah, as applied to the cherished and time honoured religious traditions of the East, has been sufficiently demonstrated to justify at present our confident hopes for the future and speedy reawakening of that land.

May the small company of the steadfast followers of ‘Abdu'l-Baha in Canada be filled with the outpourings of the Divine Grace that are being showered so mightily in these days upon the friends of God the world over, and may they arise with undiminished fervour to carry out to their fullest measure the last wishes and instructions of our departed Master for that great and flourishing Dominion!

With all good wishes,

Your brother and co-worker,

Shoghi

(‘Messages to Canada’)

30 December 1922: To the Baha’is of Philadelphia

To the Beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the merciful in Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A. Care of the Members of the Spiritual Assembly.

My Loving Friends:

Whenever I recall the tender affection with which the beloved Master referred to you in His spoken as well as in His written words I feel that the day may not be distant when the friends of that city will as the standard-bearers of the Cause herald to their fellow countrymen and to the world at large the glad tidings of this glorious Revelation.

Assured and strengthened by the memories of the many blessings that have been yours in the past, it is now assuredly the time to arise with one accord for the fulfillment of our sacred obligations, the pre-requisites of the speedy realization of such brilliant success in the Cause.

With hearts united, with minds purified and with a determination never to waver or surrender, let us step into the arena of service and armed with the sword of utterance and teaching combat effectively the ills and sicknesses of this distracted world.

We need not feel depressed or overwhelmed with the magnitude of the task for the mighty combatants whom the hands of the Master have raised in every part of the globe shall come to our aid and the Hosts of the Unseen shall reinforce our numbers till the Spirit of Love and Peace even as foretold in the Holy Writ of Baha'u'llah will have filled the world.

I pray constantly on your behalf that your vision may never be dimmed and your courage may never falter in His Path.

I am as ever your co-worker,

Shoghi

December 30th, 1922

(Star of the West, Vol. 14, April 1923)

30 December 1922: To the Baha’is of San Francisco

The Beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful in San Francisco, Calif. U.S.A.

Beloved Friends:

The various tidings that have directly and indirectly reached the Holy Land regarding the combined efforts which the friends of the Western States have recently exerted for the promotion of the Cause in those regions, and in which the friends in that city have shared in no small degree, have filled our hearts with a joy that no words can express.

It is indeed gratifying to learn how your flourishing city, so rich and splendid in its material gifts, so similar in its atmosphere and peaceful surroundings to the Holy Land, and potentially endowed with such spiritual capacity, is now taking a leading part in lending a fresh impetus to the onward march of the Movement in regions which, though distant and remote, are yet so near and dear to the Master's heart.

May your patient efforts be crowned with signal success and may the Light of this Divine Revelation so illumine your city as to justify the high hopes which our Beloved had confidently reposed in every one of you.

We all remember you very tenderly during our visits to the Three Holy Shrines and beseech every time with renewed ardour the blessings of the Almighty upon your labours.

Your friend and co worker,

Shoghi

December 30, 1922

(Star of the West, Vol. 14, April 1923)

29 December 1922: To the Baha’is of Chicago

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful in Chicago, Ill. U.S.A. Care of the members of the Spiritual Assembly.

Beloved brethren and sisters in the Cause of God:

May I assure you in this short message of mine of my sincere admiration for and firm attachment to those old and tried believers who have been engaged ever since the earliest days of the Cause in that land in the noble pursuit of spreading far and wide the Universal Teachings of Baha'u'llah.

Your city so far famed for its intimate association with the history of the rise of the Mashrequ’l-Azkar will, I trust, witness in the not distant future while this majestic Structure is being raised a swift regeneration in the spiritual lives of its inhabitants, that it may become truly the throbbing centre of Baha’i activities throughout the land.

We all look forward with eager hearts to the time when this noble Edifice, with all its various accessories completed, will become the focal centre of spiritual, humanitarian and intellectual achievements to which the friends of that city, the pioneers of such a glorious work, will have a distinct share to contribute.

May my prayers together with yours hasten the advent of such a crowning period in the history of the Cause in that land!

Your brother and coworker,

Shoghi

Haifa, Palestine,

December 29, 1922.

(Star of the West, March 1923, Vol. 13)

23 December 1922: To the Baha'is of Great Britain

To my beloved brethren and sisters throughout Great Britain. Care of the members of the Bahá’í Council.

Dearest Friends,

I have during the last few days been waiting eagerly for the first written messages of my Western friends, sent to me since they have learned of my return to the Holy Land. How great was the joy when dear Miss Rosenberg’s letter—the very first that reached me from the West—was handed to me this evening, bearing the joyful news of the safety, the unity and the happiness of my British friends across the seas! I read it and re-read it with particular pleasure and felt a thrill of delight at the welcome news of the harmonious and efficient functioning of your Spiritual Assembly.

I very sincerely hope that now that I have fully re-entered upon my task, I may be enabled to offer my humble share of assistance and advice in the all-important work which is now before you. I fervently pray to God that the field of your activities may go on expanding, that your zeal and efforts may never diminish, and that new souls, active, able and sincere, may soon join with you in bearing aloft the Glorious Standard of the Cause in that land….

Ere long, an able and experienced teacher recently arrived from Persia will visit your shores and will, I trust, by his thorough knowledge of the Cause, his wide experience, his fluency, his ardour and his devotion, reanimate every drooping spirit and inspire the active worker to make fresh and determined efforts for the deepening as well as the spreading of the Movement in those regions. His forthcoming book, which he has patiently and laboriously written on the history of the Movement and which has been partly revised by the Pen of our Beloved Master is beyond any doubt the most graphic, the most reliable and comprehensive of its kind in all Bahá’í literature. I am sure he will considerably enrich the store of your knowledge of the various phases and stages of the Bahá’í Movement. Our beloved Dr. Esslemont will, I trust, be particularly pleased to meet him, as he is eminently qualified to offer him valuable help in connection with various aspects of his (Dr. Esslemont’s) book. I am enclosing various suggestions of Mr. Dreyfus-Barney and of Mr. Roy Wilhelm made by them at my request, during their last sojourn in the Holy Land. I submit them to Dr. Esslemont’s consideration as well as to that of the Spiritual Assembly. I very deeply regret my inability to give the attention I desire to this admirable work of his, but will assuredly do all in my power to aid him in the final stages of his work. I am certain however that the book as it now stands gives the finest and most effective presentation of the various aspects of the Cause to the mind of the Oriental as well as to that of the Westerner. May it arouse a genuine and widespread interest in the Cause throughout the world.

20 December 1922: To the Baha'is of Australia

To the Baha’is of Australia

My dearest co-workers in that distant land:-

How great was my joy to learn that in that far-away continent, remote from the turmoil and restlessness of a weary world, the Voice of God has been raised and proclaimed and has attracted such a promising number of ardent and faithful lovers of Baha’u’llah.

I offer you my heartfelt love and sympathy and the assurance of my unfailing assistance in the great work of service to mankind which is now so gloriously unfolding itself to your eyes.

I have shared fully your news with those loving pilgrims and resident friends in the Holy land whom I meet regularly in what was in the past the audience-chamber of the Master and who thirst after the tidings of the progress of the Cause in every land. They, and myself with them, will pray most fervently for every one of you that the seeds of faith and loving fellowship that you are casting in the soil of hearts may geminate and swell the ever increasing number of the valiant hosts of Baha and enable them to attain glorious victory.

I shall await with eager expectation the welcome news of the extension of your activities, the widening of your correspondence with the various spiritual centres throughout the world, the plans you contemplate for the spreading of the Movement and the means you will utilise for their speedy execution. On my part I shall never neglect to send you such news as will urge you to press forward your great work for the Cause and hearten you in your labours of love and devotion at His Sacred Threshold.

Your brother in His Service,

Shoghi

(‘Messages to the Antipodes’)

17 December 1922: To Baha'is of Germany

Blest and beloved ones of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá! [throughout Germany]

To have been unable, owing to sad circumstances over which I have had no control, to keep in close and constant touch with you, the beloved children of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, since His passing from this world, is to me a cause of sad surprise and deep and bitter regret. To say that ever since the Dawn of a New Day has broken upon me I have in the least felt reluctant or disinclined to enter into relationship with every one of you, or felt indifferent to a Cause which is so close and dear to your hearts, would indeed betray every sentiment of love and fellowship which animates every one of us in our servitude to His Holy Threshold. It was rather my utter exhaustion, my profound feelings of sorrow, the overwhelming sense of my own position and responsibilities and the extreme pressure of work that have caused me to maintain such a long silence and seem forgetful of those brave and valiant lovers of the Master in that land.

Of the thoughts that sustained and comforted me during my hours of restful retirement was the realization, never dismissed from my mind, that in the German friends the Master will surely find loyal and grateful children who will repay the tender love and paternal care which He had for them with a devotion and service, so profound and lasting that will prove worthy of the many blessings that have been theirs in the past.

17 December 1922: To the Baha’is of Japan

Dear friends, the chosen ones of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in that Far Eastern land!

Having brought to an end my long hours of retirement and meditation, one of my first thoughts upon my return to these hallowed surroundings has been to inquire after the well-being and spiritual happiness of my far-away fellow-workers who toil and labour in those remote regions of the earth for the blessed Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. How great was my joy when I learned that you were well safe and happy, content and determined, untiring in your labours and hopeful of the future!

That my sudden withdrawal from the field of active service would leave you undeterred in your activities, would never damp your tender hopes nor shake your resolution to stand firmly for the Cause, I never doubted as I knew well the indelible marks of loyalty and steadfastness which the words of our beloved Master have wrought in your lives. I am equally certain that now when we join hands again in carrying the Cause of God a stage yet further, your assistance wholehearted as ever before will give it a fresh impetus that will lead to the establishment of throbbing centres of spiritual activity in those outlying regions of the world.

Japan, a land so richly endowed, so alert and progressive, so quick in its grasp of realities of life, is now the recipient of a Divine Bestowal, greater, richer and more enduring than any material gift she has ever enjoyed in modern times. What blissful thought to remember that you are the chosen ones that shall establish the Kingdom of God in that land; that you are the pioneers of a Work that will endure and supersede all the other achievements, however meritorious and brilliant, of your fellow-countrymen for Japan.

16 December 1922: To Baha'is throughout the continent of America

To the loved ones of 'Abdu'l-Baha throughout the continent of America

Dear fellow-workers in the Holy Vineyard of Baha!

Now that my long hours of rest and meditation are happily at an end, I turn my face with renewed hope and vigor to that vast continent the soil of which is pregnant with those seeds that our beloved Master has so tenderly and so profusely scattered in the past. Prolonged though this period has been, yet I have strongly felt ever since the New Day has dawned upon me that such a needed retirement, despite the temporary dislocations it might entail, would far outweigh in its results any immediate service I could have humbly tendered at the Threshold of Bahá'u'lláh.

I am now confident that the energies of my beloved brethren and sisters across the seas, far from being damped by my sudden disappearance from the field of service, will henceforth be fully maintained, nay redoubled in their intensity, that we may all together carry triumphantly to the uttermost corners of the world the glorious Standard of Baha.

Bereft of all news whatsoever during my hours of restful seclusion, I now feel the more the thrill of the various tidings, few but indeed promising, that have been awaiting my return to the Holy Land. The work of the noble Edifice that the mighty hands of the All-wise Master has reared in this world can suffer no delay, nor can its foundations be made to totter, whatever the apparent obstacles its enemies in their impotent wrath and despair may throw in its way. We need not wait too long, for already from various quarters there comes the news that the awful promises of 'Abdu'l-Bahá regarding the Covenant-breakers have been strikingly fulfilled!

16 December 1922: The Guardian's first letter to the Baha'is in Great Britain

To my spiritual brethren and sisters in Great Britain. Care of the members of the Spiritual Council.[1]

My dearest brethren and sisters in the faith of God!

May I at the very outset of this, my very first letter to you, convey to your hearts in words, however inadequate but assuredly deeply felt and sincere, a measure of my burning impatience, during my days of retirement, to return speedily and join hands with you in the great work of consolidation that awaits every earnest believer in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

Now that happily I feel myself restored to a position where I can take up with continuity and vigour the threads of my manifold duties, the bitterness of every disappointment felt, time and again, in the course of the past weary months at my feeling of unpreparedness, have been merged in the sweetness of the present hour, when I realise that spiritually and bodily I am better equipped to shoulder the responsibilities of the Cause. The thought, so often comforting and sustaining, that in the counsels of my British co-workers of that land, I shall find spontaneous and undiminished support as well as wise and experienced assistance, is surely one of those forces which will hearten me in the midst of my future labours for the Cause.

That in every one of you our departed Master reposed His future and truest hopes for an able and convincing presentation of the Cause to the outside world, is abundantly revealed in His spoken and written words to you, as well as in His general references to the spirit of sincerity, of tenacity and devotion that animates His friends of that land.

15 December 1922: To the Baha’is of Japan

To the believers in Japan care Agnes Alexander.

Refreshed and reassured I now stretch to you across the distant seas my hand of brotherly cooperation in the Cause of Baha.

Shoghi

(cable dated December 15, 1922)

(‘Japan Will Turn Ablaze’)

circa May, 1922: To Baha'is Worldwide

IN THE NAME OF GOD

This servant, after that grievous event and great calamity, the ascension of His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Abha Kingdom, has been so stricken with grief and pain and so entangled in the troubles (created) by the enemies of the Cause of God, that I consider that my presence here, at such a time and in such an atmosphere, is not in accordance with the fulfilment of my important and sacred duties.

For this reason, unable to do otherwise, I have left for a time the affairs of the Cause both at home and abroad, under the supervision of the Holy Family and the headship of the Greatest Holy Leaf [Bahiyyih Khanum, sister of 'Abdu'l-Bahá] until, by the Grace of God, having gained health, strength, self-confidence and spiritual energy, and having taken into my hands, in accordance with my aim and desire, entirely and regularly the work of service I shall attain to my utmost spiritual hope and aspiration.

The servant of His Threshold,

Shoghi

Haifa, Palestine.

Circa May, 1922 (undated).

==================================

May I also express my heartfelt desire that the friends of God in every land regard me in no other light but that of a true brother, united with them in our common servitude to the Master's Sacred Threshold, and refer to me in their letters and verbal addresses always as Shoghi Effendi, for I desire to be known by no other name save the one our Beloved Master was wont to utter, a name which of all other designations is the most conducive to my spiritual growth and advancement.

Haifa, Palestine.

Circa May, 1922 (undated)

('Baha'i Administration')

5 March 1922: To Baha'is of the Worldwide

Dear fellow-workers in the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh: -

It is with words of regret and disappointment that I desire to open this letter because of my inability, in view of my manifold and pressing duties, to respond individually and in writing to the many messages of love and sympathy and of hope that you have so affectionately sent me since our Beloved's passing from this World. I am sure I am voicing the sentiments of the bereaved ladies of the Household when I say that however desirous we may be to correspond separately with every one of you, the grave responsibilities and manifold duties now devolved upon us make it regrettably impossible to express in written messages to every friend what we constantly feel in our hearts, and pray for when visiting His sacred Shrine.

At this grave and momentous period through which the Cause of God in conformity with the Divine Wisdom is passing, it is the sacred duty of every one of us to endeavor to realize the full significance of this Hour of Transition, and then to make a supreme resolve to arise steadfastly for the fulfilment of our sacred obligations.

Great as is the love and paternal care which our beloved Master is extending to us from on High, and unique as is the Spirit that animates today His servants in the world, yet a great deal will depend upon the character and efforts of His loved ones on whom now rests the responsibility of carrying on His work gloriously after Him. How great is the need at this moment when the promised outpourings of His grace are ready to be extended to every soul, for us all to form a broad vision of the mission of the Cause to mankind, and to do all in our power to spread it throughout the world! The eyes of the world, now that the sublime Personality of the Master has been removed from this visible plane, are turned with eager anticipation to us who are named after His name, and on whom rests primarily the responsibility to keep burning the torch that He has lit in this world. How keenly I feel at this challenging hour in the history of the Cause the need for a firm and definite determination to subordinate all our personal likings, our local interests, to the interests and requirements of the Cause of God! Now is the time to set aside, nay, to forget altogether, minor considerations regarding our internal relationships, and to present a solid united front to the world animated by no other desire but to serve and propagate His Cause.