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Baha’i pre-school girls at Tarbiyat School
for Girls, Tehran,
circa 1930
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- 'Abdu'l-Bahá (Compilation of prayers: ‘Handmaidens of God - Baha'i Prayers for Women’)
9/25/16
Children – “little maidservant”
9/20/16
Prayer for Departed: Uttered by ‘Abdu’l-Baha at the grave of Thornton Chase - “the first to embrace the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh in the Western world …”
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| Thornton Chase |
O my God! O my God! Verily, this is a servant of Thine, who
did believe on Thee and in Thy signs; verily he harkened to Thy summons, turned
to Thy Kingdom, humbled himself at Thy holy threshold, was possessed of a
contrite heart, arose to serve Thy cause, to spread Thy fragrances, to promote
Thy word, and to expound Thy wisdom.
Verily he guided the people to Thine ancient pathway, and
led them to Thy way of rectitude. Verily he held the chalice of guidance in his
right hand and gave unto those athirst to drink of the cup of Thy favor. He
presented himself at Thy lofty threshold, where he laid his brow on the
fragrant soil of Thy garden and circumambulated Thy all-glorious and sublime
abode, the traces of which are wide-spread and the fragrances of whose loyalty
are sensed everywhere. Later he returned to these vast and extensive countries
and proclaimed Thy name amongst the people, until his respiration ceased and
his outward sensation was suspended, returning to Thee with a heart throbbing
with Thy love and with an eye opened in Thy direction.
O Lord! O Lord! Submerge him in the ocean of Thy glory. O
Lord! O Lord! Usher him into Thy delectable garden. O Lord! O Lord! Usher him
into Thy lofty paradise and cause him to be present in Thy meeting of
transfiguration. O Lord! Submerge him in the ocean of Thy lights.
Verily, Thou art the Clement! Verily, Thou art the Merciful,
the Precious, the Omnipotent!
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Star of the West, vol. 3, no. 13, November 4,
1912)
9/15/16
Individual – Assistance; Protection; Nearness to God; Serving the Lord; Forgiveness; Healing; Love; Holiness; Detachment; Unity; Praise
[In their message published in Baha’i News Jan. 1925, the
NSA of United States and Canada referred to this prayer as “Shoghi Effendi’s
favorite prayer”]
In the Name of the Lord!
O Lord, my God, my Haven in my distress! My Shield and my
Shelter in my woes! My Asylum and Refuge in time of need and in my loneliness
my Companion! In my anguish my Solace, and in my solitude a loving Friend. The
Remover of the pangs of my sorrows and the Pardoner of my sins!
Wholly to Thee do I turn, fervently imploring Thee with all
my heart, my mind and my tongue, to shield me from all that runs counter to Thy
will, in this, the cycle of Thy divine unity, and to cleanse me from all
defilement that will hinder me from seeking, stainless and unsullied, the shade
of the Tree of Thy grace.
Have mercy, O Lord, on the feeble, make whole the sick, and
quench the burning thirst.
Gladden the bosom wherein the fire of Thy love doth smolder
and set it aglow with the flame of Thy celestial love and spirit.
Robe the Tabernacle of Divine Unity with the vesture of
holiness and set on my head the crown of Thy favor.
Illumine my face with the radiance of the orb of Thy bounty,
and graciously assist me in ministering at Thy holy threshold.
Make my heart overflow with love for Thy creatures and grant
that I may become the sign of Thy mercy, the token of Thy grace, the promoter
of concord amongst Thy loved ones, devoted unto Thee, uttering Thy
commemoration and forgetful of self but ever mindful of what is Thine.
O God! My God! Stay not from me the gentle gale of Thy pardon
and grace, and deprive me not of the well-springs of Thine aid and favor.
Neath the shade of Thy protecting Wings let me nestle, and
cast upon me the glance of Thine all-protecting eye.
Loose my tongue to laud Thy name amidst Thy people, that my
voice may be raised in great assemblies, and from my lips may stream the flood
of Thy Praise.
Thou art, in all truth, the Gracious, the Glorified, the
Mighty, the Omnipotent!
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’i News, no. 2, January 1925;
compilation: ‘Baha’i Prayers’, 1991 edition)
9/9/16
Group – Spiritual growth and development; “set their hearts aglow with the fire of Thy love”; “acquaint them with Thy mystery”; divine enchantment
O Thou kind God! That scattered assembly [American
believers] is Thine, and that gathering of friends is of Thee. Their eyes are
opened, their hearts in tune with Thy love, and their ears in communion with
Thy hidden mysteries.
O Thou who art self-sufficient! Let a beautiful song reach
this people from the birds of that garden, that they may warble, rejoice and be
happy, implore and supplicate the Lord.
O Thou Educator! Train that assembly of the righteous;
comfort them; set their hearts aglow with the fire of Thy love; acquaint them
with Thy mystery and commune with them, so that they may find Thy kingdom of
mysteries, become of the people of piety and leading in liberty.
Grant them the soul immortal; enrich them above the world,
and detach them from the world; usher them into the tent of Thy Kingdom and
give them a portion of the divine bounty.
Bestow upon them the everlasting life and bless them with
the new teachings. Make every one a lighted torch and a warbling
nightingale—the king of the rose in the garden. Reveal to them Thine attractive
beauty; make each a growing tree on the shore of Thy guidance, bearing the
fruit of Thy grace. Thus may the East illumine the West and the West become the
East of the Supreme Heaven.
Verily, Thou art the Powerful, the Almighty, and verily Thou
art the Precious, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient!
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Tablets of
‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 1’)
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