Bahá'í Reference Library - Messages to Canada, Pages 8-10

The Early Years 1923–1937

Letter of 20 April 1923

[From the Guardian:]

20 April 1923

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the Dominion of Canada

c/o the Secretary to the Montreal Spiritual Assembly

My dearly beloved friends!

I was deeply interested and immensely gratified to read the newly received messages and letters from that distant land, all testifying to the growth of a new spirit of enthusiasm and fellowship recently kindled in the hearts of those few, yet earnest, workers for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. The report sent to me recently by the Secretary of the Montreal Spiritual Assembly, as well as the letters which our beloved spiritual sister, Mrs. Schopflocher,1 has received from America, all gave me the assurance that a new era of spiritual activity is dawning upon the people of that land. May the repeated promises of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá regarding the ultimate religious revival of that spiritually conservative country, and the universal and whole-hearted response of its people to the Call of Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá be speedily fulfilled!

It behoves us, now that the signs of that glorious and promised Day are fast appearing, to arise, with utter selflessness, unity and determination, to promote and consolidate the Work which He has Himself established in the heart of that vast Dominion, and prove ourselves, by our wisdom, moderation, and constancy, worthy of the many bestowals He has showered upon us in the past. If we but follow in His Way, regard at all times the dignity of the Cause, guard sedulously its unity and vital principles, and exercise the utmost endeavour to keep its Spirit pure, effective, and unobscured, then, and only then, can we hope to achieve the immediate spread and triumph of the Cause.

Our beloved Bahá’í sister, Mrs. May Maxwell,2 the pioneer of the Cause in Canada, will soon be with us in the Holy Land, and I trust that after her visit to the Three Holy Shrines, she may be enabled to return, invigorated and refreshed, ready to continue, in collaboration with you all, the great mission which the Master has destined her to fulfill in this world. May I assure you again of my constant prayers for your success, and of my desire to hear from you all, individually and collectively, regarding the progress of your labours, and the plans you contemplate for the further advancement of the Movement in those regions.

I am your brother and co-worker,

Shoghi

Florence Evaline (Lorol/Kitty) Schopflocher—an early Montreal believer who travelled to 86 countries on behalf of the Cause. Her life and travels are described in The Bahá’í World Vol. XV, 488–489, In Memoriam. [

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May Ellis Maxwell—spiritual mother of the Canadian Bahá’í community, became a believer in 1898, visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Haifa in 1899 and returned to Paris to found the first Bahá’í centre on the European continent, married Sutherland Maxwell and settled in Montreal in 1902, achieved “the priceless honour” of a “martyr’s death” in Argentina in 1940. For a review of the vast range of her contributions to the Faith in Europe and America, see The Bahá’í World Vol. VIII, 631–642, In Memoriam. [

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