DA VERY GREAT

This community though still in its infancy, is manifesting, in the course
of the first years of its existence as an independent administrative
entity, a virility, a steadfastness of purpose, a dedication to the Cause
it serves, an organizing ability in the administration of its affairs that
augur well for the glorious destiny disclosed by the Pen of the Author of
the Divine Plan in His epoch-making Tablets. Already in the early stages
of its life, when its administrative machinery was still merged with the
institutions evolved by the followers of the Faith residing in the great
Republic of the West, its fame, through a series of memorable events and
noble exploits that have greatly enriched the annals of the Cause of God,
had spread far and wide and the shadow of its future glory had run before
it to the remotest corners of the Baha'i World. For was it not
'Abdu'l-Baha's own pen which, as far back as the dark years of the First
World War, had forecast the splendor of the memorable achievements which,
spiritually and materially, would distinguish and illuminate its annals in
the years to come? "The future of the Dominion of Canada ... is very great
and the events connected with it infinitely glorious... Again I repeat
that the future of Canada is very great, whether from a material or a
spiritual standpoint."(13)

IMPERISHABLE RECORD OF INTERNATIONAL SERVICE

It was a Canadian(14), of French extraction, who through his vision and
skill was instrumental in conceiving the design, and delineating the
features, of the first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the West, marking the
first attempt, however rudimentary, to express the beauty which Baha'i art
will, in its plenitude, unfold to the eyes of the world. It was a Canadian
woman(15), one of the noblest in the ranks of Baha'i pioneers, who alone
and single-handed, forsook her home, settled among an alien people, braved
with a leonine spirit the risks and dangers of the world conflict that
raged around her, and who now, at an advanced age and suffering from
infirmities, is still holding the Fort and is setting an example, worthy
of emulation by all her fellow pioneers of both the East and the West. It
was a member(16) of that same community who won the immortal distinction
of being called upon to be my helpmate, my shield in warding off the darts
of Covenant-breakers and my tireless collaborator in the arduous tasks I
shoulder. It was a Canadian subject(17), th