10 September 2005
To the friends gathered on the occasion of the Centenary of
the Faith in Germany
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
It is with jubilant hearts and feelings of deep gratitude
that we greet all of you who have gathered to celebrate the one hundredth
anniversary of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in Germany. No other community in the
Western world can claim to have demonstrated a greater resilience in the face
of formidable obstacles that threatened to rob you of the shining triumph, the
potent prospects, signalized by your very meeting on so auspicious an occasion.
The spark lit in Stuttgart with the arrival in 1905 of Dr.
Edwin Fischer, which was fanned into a flame with the momentous visit of the
beloved Master to that city eight years later, has burgeoned into a
conflagration that bids fair to enkindle the hearts of troop after troop of
your spiritually hungry, fellow citizens. Especially is this evident in the
dynamic efforts currently afoot to intensify the expansion and consolidation
process at the crux of the Five Year Plan.
This is a moment for reflection, profound reflection—one
that recounts the highlights in contrast to the dark aspects punctuating the
history of crisis and victory that depicts the evolution of the German
community. It should enable you to appreciate more fully than before the
outstanding results of the early believers’ trust in Bahá’u’lláh and His
unfailing guidance, which emboldened them to persevere despite the persecution
they suffered and the prohibitions inflicted on their efforts. Their exemplary
conduct assured the community of the capacity to rise like a phoenix from the
devastation of the Second World War and thenceforward to become vibrant
collaborators with their sister communities in prosecuting the great tasks set
by the Divine Plan. How brilliantly do the signs of their success shine!
Suffice it to mention a few: the erection on German soil of the first European
House of Worship; the legal recognition accorded by the highest court in the
land to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, underscoring the equality of its status to
that enjoyed by other major religions; the wealth of Bahá’í literature
translated and published in German; and the dispatch of pioneers to goal
countries. Among these distinctions was the emergence of distinguished
believers, including two Hands of the Cause of God whose tireless endeavours
galvanized the will of the community to accomplish such wonderful feats.
