Yeshua

"...Behold how in this Dispensation the worthless and foolish have fondly imagined that by such instruments as massacre, plunder and banishment they can extinguish the Lamp which the Hand of Divine power hath lit, or eclipse the Day Star of everlasting splendor. How utterly unaware they seem to be of the truth that such adversity is the oil that feedeth the flame of this Lamp! Such is God’s transforming power. He changeth whatsoever He willeth; He verily hath power over all things..."

~ Bahá’u’lláh


"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you"

- Jesus Christ (Mt 5:10-12)


"Nothing, for Christians is to be more feared than too long after peace. You are deceived if you think a Christian can live without persecution or criticism. He suffers the greatest persecution of all who lives with none. A storm puts a man on guard and obliges him to exert the utmost efforts to avoid shipwreck"

- St Jerome

Pollwr

I like the way Abdul-Bahá put this idea in A Traveller's Narrative, when relating the story of The Báb.

"Now since the doctors of Persia have no administrative capacity, they thought that violence and interference would cause extinction and silence and lead to suppression and oblivion; whereas interference in matters of conscience causes stability and firmness and attracts the attention of men's sight and souls; which fact has received experimental proof many times and often. So this punishment caused notoriety, and most men fell to making inquiry."

(Abdu'l-Baha, A Traveller's Narrative, p. 5)

cire perdue

To be persecuted in one's Faith is the opportunity to learn that love does not embody fear. Baha'i martyrs have gone to their executions with joy and some danced as they hastened to die. It is an opportunity to wholly embrace the joy of love that knows no fear. As the mother of the martyr whose head was thrown in her home said, as she threw it back, "What I have given to God, I will NOT take back....", so do others face their departure from this world. Such as Mona who asked to be hung last that she might pray and comfort those who went before her. What a privilege to be so confirmed in one's faith and to walk toward death in a bliss of spiritually reciprocated joy that transcends the physical world, no doubt left, having the barriers burned away in minutes if not already completely dissolved in the long sentences before the final event. Such are the Baha'is in Iran at this very moment who have befriended other prisoners and shown such character that the basest elements of the prison have even recognized their difference and been attracted to that beauty. Their love supports them and fear is banished giving hope to all who can see them.

aidan

Monas act was similar to Fr Maximillion Kolbe who volunteered to be cealed in a bunker to starve to death so that he could minister to the others in the bunker

arthra

There are plenty of examples for us.. one of them was Lydia Zamenhof the daughter of the founder of Esperanto who in spite of the dangers involved returned to Poland and perished in the Treblinka Concentration Camp:


It seems now absolutely certain that our dear Bahá'í sister, Lydia Zamenhof, lost her life in a gas-chamber during the war! It is a great loss, as she could have rendered the Faith many services in Europe in these past-war days! But her services to the Cause and her memory are imperishable!

(Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance v II, p. 53)


Under the German occupation regime of 1939, her home in Warsaw became part of the Warsaw Ghetto. She was arrested under the charge of having gone to the United States to spread anti-Nazi propaganda,[3] but after a few months, she was released and returned to her home city where she and the rest of her family remained confined. There she endeavored to help others get medicine and food. She was offered help and escape several times by Polish Esperantists but refused in each case. To one Pole, well-known Esperantist Jozef Arszennik, who had offered her refuge on several occasions, she explained, "you and your family could lose your lives, because whoever hides a Jew perishes along with the Jew who is discovered." [4] To another, her explanation was contained in her last known letter: "Do not think of putting yourself in danger; I know that I must die but I feel it is my duty to stay with my people. God grant that out of our sufferings a better world may emerge. I believe in God. I am a Bahá'í and will die a Bahá'í. Everything is in His hands." [5]

Lidia Zamenhof - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fadl

Gracious, I never knew this about Lydia. How tragic!

What a beautiful, courageous soul.

How blessed we are in this faith with mighty God heroes.

arthra

She really was remarkable! Recently I saw this photo of her at Green Acre Baha'i School on Baha'i Archives:



Image Gallery

Fadl

Beautiful.

I am going to pray for her spiritual progress today in my prayers.

Thanks for mentioning her and sharing.