Nine Days of Devotion
"The nature of the soul after death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissable to reveal its whole character to the eyes of men. . . . The light which these souls radiate is responsible for the progress of the world and the advancement of its peoples. They are like unto leaven which leaveneth the world of being, and constitute the animating force through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest. . . ." --Baha'u'llah (Gleanings, LXXXI)
A couple of years ago I was asked to coordinate a suitable devotions program for the Solomon R.G. Hilton Baha'i School's 9-day summer school. Each August, they rent a wonderful Quaker boarding school campus in Poughkeepsie, New York, that has a lovely, tranquil, meeting room with very long wooden benches. I wanted to design a space for our prayer meetings that would be visually different from the usual configuration of the room and I decided that if I could somehow temporarily alter the benches I could acheive this goal. I also wanted to include the recent Baha'i martyrs in some way and ultimately based the whole program on their remembrance. So, in addition to decorating the room with beautiful large posters of the various symbols of all the world's religions (designed by local artist John Watson), providing a binder of photos of the martyrs, and a box for donations in their names, each wooden bench was broken up into seating groups by the use of ribbon-tied name markers - each one dedicating that seat to a martyr.
I wanted each student to have a momento of their devotions program and I thought about creating a small booklet of selected prayers with a place for them to write the names on the seats they had occupied (and dedicated their prayers to) but it seemed inconvenient to ask the students to write in their books during devotions, so I decided to create 9 stickers of each martyr's name and to use envelopes instead of cardstock for the seat markers. (So in other words, each seat-marking envelope contained 9 sticker copies of the name on the outside of the envelope -- one for each day of the school session.)
Journals were distributed to the students on the first day and before prayers began they were shown how to remove a sticker from the seat-marker and affix it to their journal page. Some students chose to take the sticker and place it in the plastic (necklace style) badge holder they were given by the school, to keep it close to their hearts and to be able to read the name during the day, and to affix it to the journal in the evening.
When designing the journal I included a different "prayer prompt" each day to remember people in the student's lives. This prompt was listed on the sides of the page and did not visually conflict with the text from the excerpt from prayer for the martyrs but coordinated with a space I left open for making prayer personal notes. The students brought their journals with them to prayers each morning and hopefully left with a book full of memories.
Devotions began each day with a full reading of the Prayer for the Martyrs but was then opened for 30 minutes of individually chosen prayers and lots of singing!
SUGGESTED JOURNAL PAGES:
The following is an outline of the content in my journal. It is meant to be a guide for your own journal which can be based on any theme, or persons, you wish. You may copy and paste this text into any desktop publishing program, or simply copy it into a text document and photocopy one day per page or two (landscape orientation of paper). I designed my book in black and white with some gray shading. You can use color but black and white photocopying was far less expensive for me.
Cover
Nine Days of Devotion
A Personal Prayer Journal
[BLACK & WHITE DECORATIVE IMAGE]
Inside cover
This Journal Belongs to:
[SPACE FOR NAME]
"Question.--Through what means will the spirit of man--that is to say, the rational soul--after departing from this mortal world, make progress?
Answer.--The progress of man's spirit in the divine world, after the severance of its connection with the body of dust, is through the bounty and grace of the Lord alone, or through the intercession and the sincere prayers of other human souls, or through the charities and important good works which are performed in its name." --'Abdu'l-Bahá (Some Answered Questions)
Page 1
[Welcome letter, edit as you wish]
This journal is a gift for you. I hope that the ideas contained not only inspire your next nine days, but your entire spiritual life. It is a place to record your thoughts as well as the names of friends and family you wish to remember in your prayers all year long. I hope you will find it a useful tool and source of inspiration.
If you are using this journal as part of a group project please write your name on the inside cover and remember to bring it with you to devotions. When you enter the devotions room you will see that the seats have been dedicated to the recent Bahá'í martyrs. Each seat has an envelope attached that not only indicates the martyr that seat is dedicated to, but contains stickers with his/her name written on them. Each day you should choose a different seat, take a sticker from the envelope, and affix it to your prayer journal page for that day. 'Abdu'l-Bahá has told us that we can assist the progress of this martyr's soul in the next world, so please dedicate your prayers and good deeds to them for the entire day.
Note: Blank envelopes and additional name stickers have been provided for those of you who would like to make a donation to the fund in their memory. Alternatively, you may drop a coin into the fund box while saying this person's name.
Please contact me if you have any questions or comments about this journal or program.
Thank you,
Laurie
laurie.early@BahaiEmail.com
Page 2
Day One
"O God, my God! Aid me to adore Thee,"
I will remember in my prayers those who are seeking Bahá'u'lláh
[SPACE FOR NOTES]
I dedicate my prayers and actions today to the martyr named:
[SPACE FOR STICKER]
Page 3
Day Two
"strengthen my loins to serve Thee;"
I will remember in my prayers those who are in need of healing
[SPACE FOR NOTES]
I dedicate my prayers and actions today to the martyr named:
[SPACE FOR STICKER]
Page 4
Day Three
"assist me by Thy grace in my servitude to Thee;"
I will remember my parents and mentors in my prayers
[SPACE FOR NOTES]
I dedicate my prayers and actions today to the martyr named:
[SPACE FOR STICKER]
Page 5
Day Four
"suffer me to remain steadfast in my obedience to Thee;"
I will remember in my prayers those who need assistance with tests
[SPACE FOR NOTES]
I dedicate my prayers and actions today to the martyr named:
[SPACE FOR STICKER]
Page 6
Dynamics of Prayer for Solving Problems
1. Pray and meditate about it. Use the prayers of the Manifestations as they have the greatest power. Then remain in the silence of contemplation for a few minutes.
2. Arrive at a decision and hold this. This decision is usually born during contemplation. It may seem almost impossible to accomplish but if it seems to be an answer to a prayer or a way of solving the problem then immediately take the next step.
3. Have determination to carry the decision through. Many fail here. The decision, budding into determination, is blighted and instead becomes a wish or vague longing. When determination is born, immediately take the next step.
4. Have faith and confidence that the power will flow through you, the right way will appear, the door will open, the right thought, the right message, the right principle, or the right book will be given you. Have confidence and the right thing will come to your need. Then as you rise from prayer, take at once the 5th step.
5. Act as though it had all been answered. Then act with tireless, ceaseless energy. And as you act, you, yourself, will become a magnet, which will attract more power to your being, until you become an unobstructed channel for the Divine power to flow through you.
Many pray but do not remain for the last half of the first step. Some who meditate arrive at a decision, but fail to hold it. Few have the determination to carry the decision through, still fewer have the confidence that the right thing will come to their need. But how many remember to act as though it had all been answered? How true are these words "Greater than the prayer is the spirit in which it is uttered" and greater than the way it is uttered is the spirit in which it is carried out.
The above five steps were suggested by the beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, to a believer as a means of finding a solution through the use of prayer. This statement belongs to the category of statements known as "pilgrim's notes", and as such has no authority, but since it seems to be particularly helpful and clear it was felt that the believers should not be deprived of it.
Page 7
Prayer for the Martyrs
"He is God!
O Lord my God! O Thou Helper of the feeble, Succorer of the poor and Deliverer of the helpless who turn unto Thee.
With utmost lowliness I raise my suppliant hands to Thy kingdom of beauty and fervently call upon Thee with my inner tongue, saying: O God, my God! Aid me to adore Thee, strengthen my loins to serve Thee; assist me by Thy grace in my servitude to Thee; suffer me to remain steadfast in my obedience to Thee; pour forth upon me the liberal effusions of Thy bounty, let the glances of the eye of Thy loving-kindness be directed towards me, and immerse me in the ocean of Thy forgiveness. Grant that I may be confirmed in my allegiance to Thy Faith, and bestow upon me a fuller measure of certitude and assurance, that I may wholly dispense with the world, may turn my face with entire devotion towards Thy face, be reinforced by the compelling power of proofs and testimonies, and, invested with majesty and power, may pass beyond every region of heaven and earth. Verily Thou art the Merciful, the All-Glorious, the Kind, the Compassionate.
O Lord! These are the survivors of the martyrs, that company of blessed souls. They have sustained every tribulation and displayed patience in the face of grievous injustice. They have forsaken all comfort and prosperity, have willingly submitted to dire suffering and adversity in the path of Thy love, and are still held captive in the clutches of their enemies who continually torment them with sore torment, and oppress them because they walk steadfastly in Thy straight path. There is no one to help them, no one to befriend them. Apart from the ignoble and the wicked, there is no one to associate and consort with them.
O Lord! These souls have tasted bitter agony in this earthly life and have, as a sign of their love for the shining beauty of Thy countenance and in their eagerness to attain Thy celestial kingdom, tolerated every gross indignity that the people of tyranny have inflicted upon them.
O Lord! Fill their ears with the verses of divine assistance and of a speedy victory, and deliver them from the oppression of such as wield terrible might. Withhold the hands of the wicked and leave not these souls to be torn by the claws and teeth of fierce beasts, for they are captivated by their love for Thee, entrusted with the mysteries of Thy holiness, stand humbly at Thy door and have attained to Thine exalted precinct.
O Lord! Graciously reinforce them with a new spirit; illumine their eyes by enabling them to behold Thy wondrous evidences in the gloom of night; destine for them all good that aboundeth in Thy Kingdom of eternal mysteries; make them as brilliant stars shining over all regions, luxuriant trees laden with fruit and branches moving in the breezes of dawn.
Verily, Thou art the Bountiful, the Mighty, the Omnipotent, the Unconstrained. There is none other God but Thee, the God of love and tender mercy, the All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving."
- 'Abdu'l-Bahá (`Abdu'l-Bahá: Bahá'í Prayers (US edition), pages 265-267)
Page 8
Day Five
"pour forth upon me the liberal effusions of Thy bounty,"
I will remember in my prayers the children in my family and community
[SPACE FOR NOTES]
I dedicate my prayers and actions today to the martyr named:
[SPACE FOR STICKER]
Page 9
Day Six
"let the glances of the eye of Thy loving-kindness be directed towards me,"
I will remember in my prayers my local community & Bahá'í institutions in my prayers
[SPACE FOR NOTES]
I dedicate my prayers and actions today to the martyr named:
[SPACE FOR STICKER]
Page 10
Day Seven
"and immerse me in the ocean of Thy forgiveness."
I will remember in my prayers those who have left this earthly life
[SPACE FOR NOTES]
I dedicate my prayers and actions today to the martyr named:
[SPACE FOR STICKER]
Page 11
Day Eight
"Grant that I may be confirmed in my allegiance to Thy Faith,"
I will remember in my prayers those who are travelling or far away
[SPACE FOR NOTES]
I dedicate my prayers and actions today to the martyr named:
[SPACE FOR STICKER]
Page 12
Day Nine
"and bestow upon me a fuller measure of certitude and assurance …"
I will remember my family and friends in my prayers
[SPACE FOR NOTES]
I dedicate my prayers and actions today to the martyr named:
[SPACE FOR STICKER]
Inside back cover
Special Prayer Requests & Notes
Back cover
"O thou spiritual friend! Thou hast asked the wisdom of prayer. Know thou that prayer is indispensable and obligatory, and man under no pretext whatsoever is excused from performing the prayer unless he be mentally unsound, or an insurmountable obstacle prevent him. The wisdom of prayer is this: That it causeth a connection between the servant and the True One, because in that state man with all heart and soul turneth his face towards His Highness the Almighty, seeking His association and desiring His love and compassion. The greatest happiness for a lover is to converse with his beloved, and the greatest gift for a seeker is to become familiar with the object of his longing; that is why with every soul who is attracted to the Kingdom of God, his greatest hope is to find an opportunity to entreat and supplicate before his Beloved, appeal for His mercy and grace and be immersed in the ocean of His utterance, goodness and generosity. Besides all this, prayer and fasting is the cause of awakening and mindfulness and conducive to protection and preservation from tests.... "
(`Abdu'l-Bahá: Bahá'í World Faith*, page 368)
IDEAS FOR FACILITATORS:
Before your first meeting as a group, mark all the chairs in your meeting room with names of martyrs (or whomever you are dedicating the program to.) Make sure to use a method that will not permanently damage the chairs in any way.
Don't want to use envelopes? As participants arrive at the meeting room, why not hand them their stickers, or offer them a bowl of stickers to pick from.
For one-day meetings, or for those who want to continue the 9 Days of Devotion at home: participants can be given a package containing a journal, one envelope with a martyrs name written on it (for donating money to their local fund in that martyrs name), and stickers with the names of 9 other martyrs written on them that can be affixed to the journal pages. If you are bringing these packages to homebound Bahá'ís you might want to wrap them in decorative tissue paper and tie with a bow.
As a reference/inspiration for the participants, create a 3-ring binder with photos, names, and any biographical information about the people you are praying for. I found photos and names of the martyrs in back issues of The Bahá'í World. Place this binder in a centrally located position in the devotions/meeting room.
Consider setting up a box for collecting donations. Write individual names (of martyrs) on envelopes (or provide a checklist of names) and ask participants to consider a small donation to a local or other Bahá'í Fund in honor of these martyrs.
Optional: On the last day give a small token gift with a corresponding quote to each participant. Ideas include a single rose in a water vial; a wrapped sweet; a compass; a mirror, a package of flower seeds, etc. These ideas have been outlined here at the Creative Inspirations! website.
Please let me know about any variations on this theme you try in your own community. Email me: art4all@gmail.com
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