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 Báb and the Master.
Following this, 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.
- The Universal
House of Justice (In a message 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; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
