Montreal, Quebec
From Bahaikipedia
Montreal is home to Quebec's largest Bahá’í community and the only Canadian city to have been visited by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His visit to North America.
Contents |
[edit] History
Montreal is the only Canadian city to have been visited by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His visit to North America, from August 30 to September 9, 1912. He later wrote of His travels to Montreal in The Tablets of the Divine Plan:
Before My departure, many souls warned Me not to travel to Montreal, saying, the majority of the inhabitants are Catholics, and are in the utmost fanaticism, that they are submerged in the sea of imitations, that they have not the capability to hearken to the call of the Kingdom of God, that the veil of bigotry has so covered the eyes that they have deprived themselves from beholding the signs of the Most Great Guidance, and that the dogmas have taken possession of the hearts entirely, leaving no trace of reality. They asserted that should the Sun of Reality shine with perfect splendor throughout that Dominion, the dark, impenetrable clouds of superstitions have so enveloped the horizon that it would be utterly impossible for anyone to behold its rays.
But these stories did not have any effect on the resolution of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He, trusting in God, turned his face toward Montreal. When he entered that city he observed all the doors open, he found the hearts in the utmost receptivity and the ideal power of the Kingdom of God removing every obstacle and obstruction. In the churches and meetings of that Dominion he called men to the Kingdom of God with the utmost joy, and scattered such seeds which will be irrigated with the hand of divine power. Undoubtedly those seeds will grow, becoming green and verdant, and many rich harvests will be gathered. In the promotion of the divine principles he found no antagonist and no adversary. The believers he met in that city were in the utmost spirituality, and attracted with the fragrances of God. He found that through the effort of the maidservant of God Mrs. Maxwell a number of the sons and daughters of the Kingdom in that Dominion were gathered together and associated with each other, increasing this joyous exhilaration day by day. The time of sojourn was limited to a number of days, but the results in the future are inexhaustible. When a farmer comes into the possession of a virgin soil, in a short time he will bring under cultivation a large field. Therefore I hope that in the future Montreal may become so stirred, that the melody of the Kingdom may travel to all parts of the world from that Dominion and the breaths of the Holy Spirit may spread from that center to the East and the West of America.[1]
May Bolles Maxwell, mother of Ruhiyyih Khanum, is considered to be the "mother" of the Montreal Baha'i community; although she was not the first believer to live in Montreal, her service and sacrifice helped to unite and consolidate the community in its infancy, establishing it as the first major stronghold of the Baha'i Faith in Canada. Upon the advice of Shoghi Effendi, the Maxwell home is currently maintained by the Canadian Baha'i Community as a shrine.[2].
In 1927, the first youth group in the West was formed in Montreal by two young men, Rowland Estall and Emeric Sala; this group, meeting at the then-established Montreal Baha'i Centre on Union Street, attracted many like-minded youth, gradually resulting in an increase of enrollments in the Montreal Baha'i community[3].
[edit] Contact
Louis-Bourgeois Baha'i Centre (West Island)
4747, boulevard Saint-Charles
Pierrefonds, QC H9H 3C7
Phone: (514) 696-7694
Email: cblouisbourgeois[at]qc.aibn.com
Montreal Baha'i Centre
177, avenue des Pins Est
Montréal, QC H2W 1N9
Phone: (514) 849-0753
Email: centrebahaimontreal[at]bellnet.ca
LSA Email: montreal[at]bahai-quebec.org
Bahá’í Shrine
1548, avenue des Pins Ouest
Montréal, Québec
[edit] References
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan, (Wilmette: US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1993), p. 95.
- ↑ The Bahá’í Shrine in Canada. Baha'i Community of Canada. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
- ↑ Van den Hoonaard, Will C. The Origins of the Bahá’í Community of Canada, 1898-1948. pp. pp.78-79.
[edit] See also
