Montreal, May 23 2023 – Shoghi Effendi, the late Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, writes in a letter addressed to the Bahá’í Community of India that “The believers must hold gatherings for the Bahá'ís at exactly 2 hours and 11 minutes after sunset on May 22nd, 1944* as this is the exact time when The Báb declared His Mission to Mulla Hussayn. They should also arrange to hold public gatherings on May 23rd and enlist the support of prominent friends of the Faith as speakers, together with Bahá'í speakers, on that occasion. They should, as far as possible, hold festive gatherings at this time, give banquets at which friends of the Cause and believers are present, obtain as much space in the press of India as possible, and in general devise ways and means of making this a glorious and memorable celebration.”¹

In Montreal neighbourhoods as well as throughout the world, the Bahá’ís and their friends celebrated this auspicious occasion with joy and happiness.

In Saint-Laurent neighbourhood a celebration gathering took place via videoconference with a dozen of friends including friends from “Coeur de l’Est” and Anjou. A befitting program including videos portraying the event of that memorable night, 180 years ago, which took place in the upper chamber of a modest house in an obscure corner of the city of Shiraz in southern Iran!

In the “Tablet of visitation” revealed by the author of the Bahá’í Faith and it is recited during such events, He affirms: “I testify, moreover, that with but a movement of Thy Pen Thine injunction “Be Thou” hath been enforced, and God’s hidden Secret hath been divulged, and all created things have been called into being, and all the Revelations have been sent down.”²

The event of that memorable night of May 23, was indeed a “trail-breakers of the New Day, … to so much intrigue, ignorance, depravity, cruelty, superstition and cowardice opposed a spirit exalted, unquenchable and awe-inspiring, a knowledge surprisingly profound, an eloquence sweeping in its force, a piety unexcelled in fervor, a courage leonine in its fierceness, a self-abnegation saintly in its purity, a resolve granite-like in its firmness, a vision stupendous in its range, … a standard of faith and a code of conduct that challenged and revolutionized the lives of their countrymen.”³

The year of the Báb’s declaration in 1844 is the beginning of the Bahá’í calendar, known as the Badí‘ calendar, confirmed and adopted by Bahá’u’lláh.

“The adoption of a new calendar in each dispensation is a symbol of the power of Divine Revelation to reshape human perception of material, social, and spiritual reality. Through it, sacred moments are distinguished, humanity’s place in time and space reimagined, and the rhythm of life recast.”⁴

With this historic Declaration the dawn of an Age that signalizes the consummation of all ages had broken.

*In the current year 2023, the date was May 23.

Sources:

• Shoghi Effendi, LETTERS ADDRESSED TO THE N.S.A. OF INDIA, June 22, 1943
• Bahá’u’lláh, Tablet of Visitation
• Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By
• The Universal House of Justice