Pilgrimage
16 May 2017
1 ‘Aẓamat 174 B.E.
To all believers in the United Kingdom
Dearly loved Friends,
For every Bahá’í, pilgrimage to the Holy Land is an expression of devotion and an outward representation of the spiritual journey upon which each of us has embarked. During pilgrimage, believers take the precious opportunity to forge a personal, profound and enduring connection with the Shrines of the Central Figures of our Faith. Visiting the Holy Shrines “is obligatory if one can afford it and is able to do so, and if no obstacle stands in one’s way,” writes ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. For all who make the journey—as this statement from Shoghi Effendi attests—pilgrimage can become a means whereby one “can experience that mystic love which constitutes the very core of every true religion.”
Visits to other Holy Places associated with the lives of the Blessed Beauty and the beloved Master; the loving hospitality offered by the Universal House of Justice; the precious fellowship with believers from every corner of the earth—these, and other features of pilgrimage, also enable one to obtain, as the Guardian described it, “a clearer vision of the mission and significance of the Faith,” and can “greatly invigorate the friends and stimulate them to greater services and sacrifice.”
It therefore gives the National Spiritual Assembly great joy to share with you news—conveyed in a message written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated 27 April 2017—of a number of measures that have been taken to make pilgrimage more accessible to a larger number of believers.
- The long waiting list that had existed for many years has been eliminated. Those seeking to go on pilgrimage are now offered, shortly after receipt of their application, a range of dates from which to choose.
- The five-year waiting period before one can apply to undertake another pilgrimage has been reduced to three.
- It is now easier for a larger number of families and friends to come on pilgrimage together. Permission may now be requested by relatives or friends for those who are not registered Bahá’ís to join them. Friends may apply for pilgrimage through this website: https://bahai.bwc.org/pilgrimage/main/apply.asp
- A film, Pilgrimage: A Sacred Experience, created to help the friends to better appreciate the spiritual benefits of pilgrimage and its role in fostering the development of one’s dedication to the Cause, may also be viewed at https://bahai.bwc.org/pilgrimage/
The National Assembly would like to encourage all of the believers to consider making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and especially to reflect upon whether it might be timely to apply to travel with friends who may be part of your community of interest, collaborators in your study circle, participants in your devotional meetings or other activities. Surely as the significance of the life and mission of Bahá’u’lláh becomes increasingly appreciated during this bicentenary period, sharing in the act of pilgrimage would do much to “unite and bind together the hearts,” and “join in accord all the souls…” (‘Abdu’l Bahá)
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Patrick O’Mara,
Secretary