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Messages to Canada

  • Author:

  • Shoghi Effendi

  • Source:
  • Bahá’í Canada Publications
  • Pages:
  • 276
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Pages 165-166

Letter of 24 August 1952

24 August 1952

To the Treasurer of the National Spiritual Assembly

Dear Bahá’í Brother:
Your letter of August 12th ... has been received by the beloved Guardian, and he has asked me to acknowledge it on his behalf.
The contributions made by ... are very deeply appreciated by him. Receipt is enclosed herewith, which he would ask you to please send to....
The Guardian was very deeply touched that ... made this very substantial contribution in memory of William Sutherland Maxwell.1 Mr. Maxwell rendered outstanding and distinguished service to the Cause and to the Guardian during a very difficult period of its development here. Rúhíyyih Khánum2 likewise is deeply appreciative of this remembrance of Mr. Maxwell.
The Guardian is praying fervently for the success of the work in.... He attaches the utmost importance to the establishment of the Cause in the far-off areas, and particularly in the far north—during the next ten years the Faith is to be established all over the world—and certainly those like..., who pioneer so vigorously at this time, are not only helping to achieve great victories now, but are laying the foundation for the success of the great World Crusade which the present efforts will usher in.
The work on the drum of the Shrine is going forward rapidly. The attractiveness of the drum greatly enhances the beauty of the Shrine itself. Not only that, the masons have started to construct the beautiful elaborate masonry surrounding the eighteen windows of the drum, representing the eighteen Letters of the Living.

With warm Bahá’í greetings,

Leroy Ioas
1.William Sutherland Maxwell—architect of the Shrine of the Báb, appointed a Hand of the Cause of God in 1951, died in Montreal in 1952. His “saintly life” is described in The Bahá’í World Vol. XII, 657–662, In Memoriam.  [ Back To Reference]
2.Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum Rabbani (Mary Maxwell)—daughter of May and Sutherland Maxwell, became the wife of Shoghi Effendi in 1937, appointed a Hand of the Cause of God in 1952.  [ Back To Reference]