ycle and
dispensation, the feast hath been favoured and loved, and the spreading of
a table for the lovers of God hath been considered a praiseworthy act.
This is especially the case today, in this dispensation beyond compare,
this most generous of ages, when it is highly acclaimed, for it is truly
accounted among such gatherings as are held to worship and glorify God.
Here the holy verses, the heavenly odes and laudations are intoned, and
the heart is quickened, and carried away from itself.

The primary intent is to kindle these stirrings of the spirit, but at the
same time it follows quite naturally that those present should partake of
food, so that the world of the body may mirror the spirit's world, and
flesh take on the qualities of soul; and just as the spiritual delights
are here in profusion, so too the material delights.

Happy are ye, to be observing this rule, with all its mystic meanings,
thus keeping the friends of God alert and heedful, and bringing them peace
of mind, and joy.

49: THY LETTER HATH BEEN RECEIVED. THOU DIDST WRITE OF ...

Thy letter hath been received. Thou didst write of the Nineteen Day
festivity, and this rejoiced my heart. These gatherings cause the divine
table to descend from heaven, and draw down the confirmations of the
All-Merciful. My hope is that the breathings of the Holy Spirit will be
wafted over them, and that each one present shall, in great assemblies,
with an eloquent tongue and a heart flooded with the love of God, set
himself to acclaiming the rise of the Sun of Truth, the dawn of the
Day-Star that lighteth all the world.

50: YOU HAVE ASKED AS TO THE FEAST IN EVERY BAHA'I ...

You have asked as to the feast in every Baha'i month. This feast is held
to foster comradeship and love, to call God to mind and supplicate Him
with contrite hearts, and to encourage benevolent pursuits.

That is, the friends should there dwell upon God and glorify Him, read the
prayers and holy verses, and treat one another with the utmost affection
and love.

51: AS TO THE NINETEEN DAY FEAST, IT REJOICETH MIND AND ...

As to the Nineteen Day Feast, it rejoiceth mind and heart. If this feast
be held in the proper fashion, the friends will, once in nineteen days,
find themselves spiritually restored, and endued with a power that is not
of this world.

52: O SERVANT OF THE ONE TRUE GOD! THE LORD BE ...

O servant of the One true God! The Lord be