r and of the cousin of the Bab to the Baha'i
burial ground in the vicinity of the Most Great House, must receive the
continued and prayerful attention of those on whom this sacred
responsibility primarily devolves. In particular a determined effort must
be made, now that no less than nine of the fifteen republics constituting
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are included within the pale of
the Faith, and especially by those Baha'i communities situated on the
periphery of this vast territory, to establish a nucleus, however small,
in each of the six remaining republics, all of which are now confined to
the European continent, as well as in each of the two islands and of the
three satellites included within the Soviet Orbit, thereby decisively
contributing to the consummation of one of the most challenging objectives
of this world-embracing Crusade.

Supplementing these manifold and pressing duties, which the audacious
prosecutors of this vast Crusade are now, with such modest resources, and
despite the smallness of their numbers, so nobly discharging, over so
large a portion of the globe, and at so turbulent a stage in the affairs
of mankind, is the no less vital obligation to insure through a still more
spectacular demonstration of world-wide Baha'i solidarity and
self-sacrifice, the means whereby the three monumental Edifices, each
designed to serve as a house for the indwelling Spirit of God and a
tabernacle for the glorification of His appointed Messenger in this day,
may, without any interruption, be raised and dedicated, in the European,
the African and Australian continents, and contribute their share to the
world-wide celebrations of the Centenary towards which every Baha'i heart
is eagerly straining.

Great are the strides that have already been made, and phenomenal the
success achieved, by the prosecutors of a thrice blessed Crusade--a Crusade
so closely associated with the epoch-making Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha's
Divine Plan, utilizing as its agencies the laboriously erected
institutions of an efficiently functioning, divinely-appointed
Administrative Order, and linking, as it forges ahead, two historic
centenaries commemorating the Birth and the Declaration of the Mission of
the Founder of our Faith. The tasks that still remain to be accomplished,
however, are truly formidable. Above all, the homefront, that must serve
as a base, and act as a reservoir for the supply of a steady flow of
pioneers and res