March 31

… The Teachings of the Faith are quite clear on the necessity for attention to the education of children and the fostering of family life. The problem to which you have called attention arises when believers are confronted with insistent calls for assistance in the promotion of the Faith, in the administrative activities of the Bahá’í community, and in the consolidation work. Their challenge is to decide how to respond to these calls without neglect of their responsibilities to children and other family members, having regard to the limitations of time, energy and resources with which all Bahá’ís are confronted.

There is no single correct approach to meeting this challenge, since individual circumstances vary so greatly. However, it is clear that Bahá’ís should strive for balance, in which the legitimate needs of children and family are considered, together with the needs of the external Bahá’í community and its growth. As the family develops, a conscious effort should be made to draw all of its members into the work of the Faith in such manner that the children identify with it and do not resent the involvement of the parents; this should come about through a process of encouragement and nurturing, and the motivation of the family members sustained through family consultation. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 20 September 1992 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Family Life’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, revised March 2008)

March 29

As to the order and the management of the spiritual affairs of the friends, that which is very important now is the consolidation of the Spiritual Assemblies in every centre, because on these fortified and unshakeable foundations, God’s Supreme House of Justice shall be erected and firmly established in the days to come.  When this most great edifice shall be reared on such an immovable foundation, God’s purpose, wisdom, universal truths, mysteries and realities of the Kingdom, which the mystic Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh has deposited within the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, shall gradually be revealed and made manifest. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 19 December 1923 to the Bahá’ís of the East—translated from the Persian; compilation: ‘The Universal House of Justice’; prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, February 2021; online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Centre)

March 27

As regards the question you asked about a Summer School, there is no reason why a property should either be rented or bought for this purpose. You can arrange to hold a Summer School in any suitable place where the friends can find accommodation, and a hall can be rented for its sessions. This is what they have done in England for many years to great advantage. It is a simple and economical way of holding the School. The primary purpose of the School is to deepen the knowledge of the friends in the Teachings, to enable them to consort, as Bahá'ís, with each other, and to confirm any contacts who may have attended. The School may be held during the winter season or any other time of the year. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 30 June 1957 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska and an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Centers of Baha’i Learning)

March 25

Protecting children from the immoral influences of present-day society stands as one of the mighty challenges facing Bahá’í parents. Your expression of concern about the effect which media, especially television programmes, has on children, has been sympathetically noted. As you well know, there is no practical way children can be shielded entirely from the moral problems of the society in which they are growing up. It therefore devolves upon parents to do all they can to ensure that their children receive spiritual education from their earliest years, both through Bahá’í classes sponsored by institutions of the Faith and through the moral instruction and example they receive at home. The published compilation on Bahá’í education offers many useful guidelines.

Since it is impossible for Bahá’í children to avoid exposure to unsavoury behaviour, it becomes important that the encounters that children may have with such behaviour through the media and in daily life be used wisely by parents as a means of guiding and assisting them to appreciate the practical as well as spiritual importance of being different. The extent to which you seek to reduce your child’s exposure to such influences is left to your best judgement in the light of the Teachings. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 4 September 2001 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to a Bahá’í couple; compilation: ‘Family Life’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, revised March 2008)

March 23

The message of the House of Justice dated 20 October 1983 has clearly set out the concepts, defined the objectives and outlined the guiding principles for the selection and implementation of Bahá’í development projects, programmes or activities. The vast majority of Bahá’í projects will be primarily generated at the grass roots, and, initially as required, will receive help from Bahá’í sources, in terms of finances and manpower. The projects will, as you have already surmised, be non-profit making, concerned mainly with activities closely related to education, health and hygiene, agriculture and simple community development activities. It is hoped that all these types of projects will reflect the strength of the spiritual principles enshrined in the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

It is important that our undertakings be modest in their scope at the present time.  Then, as we gain in confidence and experience and as our resources increase, our work will encompass expanded objectives, and the friends will explore new areas of social and economic activity. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 22 December 1983 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Social Action’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, August 2020, online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

March 21

Your questions all pertain to the vital issue of the Bahá’í education of children. The House of Justice regards it as being of the utmost importance that Bahá’í parents strive to assist their children to make a sustained and systematic study of the Teachings, to spiritualize their lives, and to form their characters in accordance with the standards of Bahá’u’lláh. Success in the fulfilment of these vital duties on the part of the parents will lessen the danger of their children’s being caught up in the destructive forces which are a distinguishing feature of a declining social order sorely in need of regeneration, and of their being deprived of the healing grace of Bahá’u’lláh. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 2 July 1995 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Family Life’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, revised March 2008)

March 19

The world in which our efforts are taking place is likewise undergoing profound changes. On the one hand, the vast network of agencies and individuals that promote understanding and cooperation among diverse peoples affirms ever more powerfully the growing recognition that the “earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” On the other hand, it is equally clear that the world is moving through a period of social paralysis, tyranny and anarchy, a period marked by the widespread neglect of both governmental and personal responsibility, the ultimate consequences of which no one on earth can foresee. The effect of both developments, as Shoghi Effendi also pointed out, will be to awaken in the hearts of those who share this planet with us a longing for unity and justice that can be met only by the Cause of God. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 24 May 2001 addressed to the Believers Gathered for the Events Marking the Completion of the Projects on Mount Carmel; Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

March 17

“For three days and three nights,” Nabíl has recorded in his chronicle, “no manner of food or drink was given to Bahá’u’lláh. Rest and sleep were both impossible to Him. The place was infested with vermin, and the stench of that gloomy abode was enough to crush the very spirits of those who were condemned to suffer its horrors.” “Such was the intensity of His suffering that the marks of that cruelty remained imprinted upon His body all the days of His life.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

March 15

The purpose of so much perpetual and intensive emphasis on the support and consolidation of these Spiritual Assemblies is this—that the foundation of the Cause of God must become broader and stronger day by day, that no confusion ever enter the divine order, that new and strong ties be forged between East and West, that Bahá’í unity be safeguarded and illumine the eyes of the people of the world with its resplendent beauty, so that upon these Assemblies God’s Houses of Justice may be firmly established and upon these secondary Houses of Justice the lofty edifice of the Universal House of Justice may, with complete order, perfection and glory, and with no delay, be raised up. When the Universal House of Justice shall have stepped forth from the realm of hope into that of visible fulfilment and its fame be established in every corner and clime of the world, then that august body—solidly grounded and founded on the firm and unshakeable foundation of the entire Bahá’í community of East and West, and the recipient of the bounties of God and His inspiration—will proceed to devise and carry out important undertakings, world-wide activities and the establishment of glorious institutions. By this means the renown of the Cause of God will become world-wide and its light will illumine the whole earth. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 1924 to the Bahá’ís of the World throughout the East and the West—translated from the Persian; compilation: ‘The Universal House of Justice’; prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, February 2021; online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Centre)

March 13

He has noted with keen interest the plan you have conceived for the intensification of agricultural production with the view of meeting any possible food shortage in these times of war. While he is fully aware of the need for putting forth such a plan, and deeply appreciative as he feels of the noble motives that have prompted you to approach this problem, he nevertheless thinks that the time is not yet ripe for the believers, as a body, to undertake social and economic experiments of such character and scope. Neither the material resources at their disposal, nor their numerical strength are sufficient to give them any reasonable hope of embarking successfully upon a project of this kind. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 6 November 1940 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Social Action’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, August 2020, online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

March 11

Erelong, by the leave of our Lord, the Most Glorious, the veil shall be lifted from the face of His most mighty Law, and the balance of His wondrous constitution—the foundation of His most noble, lofty, and mighty House of Justice—shall be set in this holy, blessed, and snow-white Spot, the Centre round which circle all created things. Blessed be God, the Author of this wondrous Cause! Blessed be God, the Originator of this brilliant and refulgent Light! Blessed be God, the Founder of this lofty Edifice in that distant region —a land wherein shall be reflected the effulgences of the gathering-places of Heaven and the lights of the sanctuaries of the Kingdom! Magnified, then, be our Lord, the Succourer, the All-Powerful, the Most Glorious! 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated November 1927 to the Bahá’ís of the East—translated from the Persian; compilation: ‘The Universal House of Justice’; prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, February 2021; online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Centre)

March 9

Regarding the summer schools in general: although there is no objection to their being under the direct management of a special Committee elected for that purpose, they must be generally supervised by the National Spiritual Assembly in respect to policy, etc. In other words they must be considered as a national and not a purely local institution.... 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 18 April 1942 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Centers of Baha’i Learning)

March 7

“‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” writes Dr. J.E. Esslemont, “tells how one day He was allowed to enter the prison-yard to see His beloved Father when He came out for His daily exercise. Bahá’u’lláh was terribly altered, so ill He could hardly walk. His hair and beard unkempt, His neck galled and swollen from the pressure of a heavy steel collar, His body bent by the weight of His chains.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

March 5

Bahá’u’lláh encourages us to anticipate from the youth of His community a much earlier advance to maturity than is characteristic of the rest of society. Clearly, that does not in any way diminish the importance of the pursuit of education, of economic realities, or of family obligations. It does mean that Bahá’í youth can accept—and should be encouraged to accept—a responsibility of their own for moral leadership in the transformation of society. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 24 May 2001 addressed to the Believers Gathered for the Events Marking the Completion of the Projects on Mount Carmel; Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

March 3

Exalted as is the rank of ‘Abdu’l Bahá, and however profuse the praises with which in these sacred Books and Tablets Bahá’u’lláh has glorified His son, so unique a distinction must never be construed as conferring upon its recipient a station identical with, or equivalent to, that of His Father, the Manifestation Himself. To give such an interpretation to any of these quoted passages would at once, and for obvious reasons, bring it into conflict with the no less clear and authentic assertions and warnings to which I have already referred. Indeed, as I have already stated, those who overestimate ‘Abdu’l Bahá’s station are just as reprehensible and have done just as much harm as those who underestimate it. And this for no other reason except that by insisting upon an altogether unwarranted inference from Bahá’u’lláh’s writings they are inadvertently justifying and continuously furnishing the enemy with proofs for his false accusations and misleading statements. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah; included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)

March 1

He [Baha’u’llah] it was Who, scarce three months after the Faith was born, received, through the envoy of the Báb, Mullá Husayn, the scroll which bore to Him the first tidings of a newly announced Revelation, Who instantly acclaimed its truth, and arose to champion its cause. It was to His native city and dwelling place that the steps of that envoy were first directed, as the place which enshrined “a Mystery of such transcendent holiness as neither Hijáz nor Shíráz can hope to rival.” It was Mullá Husayn’s report of the contact thus established which had been received with such exultant joy by the Báb, and had brought such reassurance to His heart as to finally decide Him to undertake His contemplated pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')