Developments regarding Canada’s House of Worship
25 February 2025 / 1 Intercalary Days 181
To the Canadian Bahá’í community
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
With hearts overflowing with gratitude, the National Spiritual Assembly is thrilled to announce the City of Markham’s approval, today, of the rezoning application that clears the way for constructing Canada’s national House of Worship on the beautiful, wooded site in the vicinity of the Bahá’í National Centre. This divine project now gains momentum, a spiritual and material enterprise unlike any other. Without further delay, the next steps in the process of choosing a design and architect are being taken, and many other aspects of the endeavour can now advance. On this first of the Days of Há, this season of rejoicing, how our joy in sharing this news with you is amplified!
Each whispered prayer, whether it has risen from the many visitors to the site or from farther afield, has contributed to this wonderful accomplishment. Each sacrificial gift towards the erection of this momentous structure recalls ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement that even the act of “laying but one brick for [it] or one of its dependencies is like unto building a lofty edifice”[i]. Every service dedicated to the oneness of humanity strengthens the foundation on which it rises.
Dear friends, in a few short days, the sacred period of the Fast begins. We hope that you will set aside time during the Fast to refresh your study of the stirring compilation entitled The Institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, attached. As you gather for prayers with family, friends or neighbours, igniting “countless beacons of light against the gloom”, opening the city of the human heart, and evoking the spirit of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, our prayers and love are with you.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF CANADA
Karen McKye, Secretary
[i] https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/compilations/institution-mashriqul-adhkar/institution-mashriqul-adhkar.pdf?4093d6a5
Category: Institutions, Messages, National Spiritual Assembly
