Ridvan, also known as the Most Great Festival, celebrates Baha’u’llah’s time in the garden of Ridvan on the outskirts of Baghdad in 1863 when He publicly declared His station as a Manifestation of God. The Ridvan Festival is 12 days long and is also the time of year when Baha’is elect their governing bodies.
Baha’u’llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith, passed away on 29 May, 1892. This holy day is commemorated by Baha’is all over the world and is known as ‘The Ascension of Baha’u’llah’. The final resting place of Baha’u’llah, the Shrine of Baha’u’llah, is located in Bahji (in present day Israel), and is the Point of Adoration to which Baha’is turn when reciting their Obligatory Prayer.
Mystery of God – Choral Music by Lorraine Manifold & Pierre Weber
This piece of choral music is based on the words of Baha’u’llah. In 1852, Baha’u’llah was cast into Tehran’s most notorious subterranean dungeon where He received His Divine Message through a female divine reality known as the Maid of Heaven. The passage sung are words of the Maid of Heaven about Baha’u’llah’s station, as recounted by Him:
This is the Beauty of God amongst you, and the power of His sovereignty within you, could ye but understand. This is the Mystery of God and His Treasure, the Cause of God and His glory unto all who are in the kingdoms of Revelation and of creation, if ye be of them that perceive.
This song was composed by Lorraine Manifold and Pierre Weber. It is composed for four female voices, all sung here by Lorraine.
In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.
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