Raglan Baha’i news
Ridvan Celebrations for Raglan and Waikato District Baha’is will be held from the 19th April. The Holy Day dates this year are on the 19th and 28th April and 1st May.
In Raglan on the evening of 19th April: The Annual Baha’i Elections for service on the governing body, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Waikato District, at the home of Mrs Miette Smith.
The 1st Day of Ridvan will be held in Matangi at the home of Mr and Mrs Geoffrey and Adrienne Jervis.
The 9th Day of Ridvan will be held in Raglan at the home Ms Kathleen Gilbert.
The 12th Day of Ridvan will be held in Horotiu and the home of Dr Rebecca Grace.
The Ridvan Festival commemorates the anniversary of the garden sojourn where Baha’u’llah declared his mission outside Baghdad during the twelve days before his banishment to Istanbul (then called Constantinople) in 1863. Baha’u’llah had been exiled to Baghdad ten years earlier in 1853 by a Persian government that feared the rapid spread of his teachings and their progressive impact on society; and now, because his teachings continued to spread and threaten the clerics, Baha’u’llah was being sent into further exile as a result of pressure from that same government.
In the midst of this sadness, Baha’u’llah began to announce the mission of his new Faith to a widening circle of believers. With this action, Baha’u’llah transformed the occasion of his banishment from tragedy to triumph.