Tag: "Nineteen Day Feast"

tag name	Nineteen Day Feast	type:	Practices; Terminology
web link	bahai-library.com/tags/Nineteen_Day_Feast
related tags	– Bahá'í activities; Bahá'í meetings; Feasts; Recurrent events
referring tags	Consultation; Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Selected topics; Su'al va Javab (Questions and Answers, Kitáb-i-Aqdas); Timings of Feasts and Holy Days; Unity Feast
Inventory subject	Nineteen-Day Feast; Spiritual meetings; gatherings; devotional gatherings; feasts
notes	"The principal gathering of Bahá'ís of a particular locality. The Nineteen Day Feast is, ideally, held on the first day of every Bahá'í month, and brings together the members of the Bahá'í community for worship, consultation and fellowship. The programme for each Feast is divided into three parts to correspond to these purposes. The devotional portion of the feast consists of reading primarily from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Báb and 'Abdu'l-Bahá or, occasionally, from the sacred scriptures of other religions. The purpose of the consultative portion of the Feast "is to enable individual believers to offer any suggestion to the Local Assembly which in its turn will pass it to the [National Spiritual Assembly]". The social portion of the Feast consists in the serving of refreshments. Attendance at the Feast is not obligatory but very important. In general, only Bahá'ís are permitted to attend the Nineteen Day Feast." – from A Basic Bahá'í Dictionary (1989) See also: – Bahai org: Nineteen Day Feast – Compilation Nineteen Day Feast – Covenant Library Unified Index
selected quotations (authoritative sources)	These quotations reflect common presentations of Bahá’í views; the materials below may show a wider range of interpretations and contexts: "Verily, it is enjoined upon you to offer a feast, once in every month" ¶57 "This injunction has become the basis for the holding of monthly Bahá’í festivities and as such constitutes the ordination of the Nineteen Day Feast. In the Arabic Bayán the Báb called upon His followers to gather together once every nineteen days to show hospitality and fellowship. Bahá’u’lláh here confirms this and notes the unifying role of such occasions. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá and Shoghi Effendi after Him have gradually unfolded the institutional significance of this injunction. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá emphasized the importance of the spiritual and devotional character of these gatherings. Shoghi Effendi, besides further elaborating the devotional and social aspects of the Feast, has developed the administrative element of such gatherings and, in systematically instituting the Feast, has provided for a period of consultation on the affairs of the Bahá’í community, including the sharing of news and messages. In answer to a question as to whether this injunction is obligatory, Bahá’u’lláh stated it was not (Q&A 48). Shoghi Effendi in a letter written on his behalf further comments: Attendance at Nineteen Day Feasts is not obligatory but very important, and every believer should consider it a duty and privilege to be present on such occasions." – Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Note 82 "Regarding the time for the holding of the Nineteen Day Feasts and elections: the Guardian would advise your Assembly to urge the friends to hold such gatherings on the prescribed day before sunset. If impossible, then it is permissible to hold them on the preceding day. In connection with the nine holy days however the friends should consider it obligatory to celebrate them on the prescribed day before sunset." – From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 24 December 1939 to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, in compilation Nineteen Day Feast, extract 30 "Concerning the matter of the devotions at Nineteen Day Feasts. We see no contradiction in the three statements of the beloved Guardian. In essence they all describe exactly the same procedure, namely, that the Feast is opened with devotional readings, that is to say prayers and meditations, from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Bab, and the Master. Following these passages may be read from other Tablets, from the Holy Scriptures of previous Dispensations, and from the writings of the Guardian. It is clear, however, that the beloved Guardian would not wish his own words to be read as part of an arranged devotional programme in which they would be interspersed among words of Holy Scripture. In other words, at the Nineteen Day Feast, where words of the Guardian are to be read they should follow any selections from the Scriptures and not be mixed with them. This does not mean, however, that subsequently in the Feast, any of these types of writings may not be read as suitable during the consultation." – From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to the Hands of the Cause of God, August 25, 1965: cited in a letter from the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, October 15, 1972, in Lights of Guidance, no. 818
bahaidata.org	Q4635   ·   Links to Bahá'í wikis (bahai9, bahaipedia, etc.)
references	en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Day_Feast; bahaiquotes.com/subject/feast; bahaiquotes.com/subject/feast-children; bahaiquotes.com/subject/feast-language; bahaiquotes.com/subject/feast-non-bahais; www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/search#q=Feast

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