…Pope Pius IX. It was to him who regarded himself as the
Vicar of Christ that Bahá’u’lláh wrote that “the Word which the Son [Jesus]
concealed is made manifest,” that “it hath been sent down in the form of the
human temple,” that the Word was Himself, and He Himself the Father. It was to
him who styling himself “the servant of the servants of God” that the Promised
One of all ages, unveiling His station in its plenitude, announced that “He Who
is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds.” It was he, who,
claiming to be the successor of St. Peter, was reminded by Bahá’u’lláh that
“this is the day whereon the Rock [Peter] crieth out and shouteth ... saying:
‘Lo, the Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is
fulfilled.’” It was he, the wearer of the triple crown, who later became the
first prisoner of the Vatican, who was commanded by the Divine Prisoner of Akká
to “leave his palaces unto such as desire them,” to “sell all the embellished
ornaments” he possessed, and to “expend them in the path of God,” and to
“abandon his kingdom unto the kings,” and emerge from his habitation with his
face “set towards the Kingdom.”
- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)
