Our Commemoration of the Martyrdom of the Bab

Shrine of the Bab, on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel

Today was the 158th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Bab, the Forerunner of Baha'u'llah.

The commemoration was held in the beautiful house of some lovely friends in our community.

We read prayers and Tablets from the Baha'i Writings on the Bab and His Martyrdom. We watched some videos and heard the story of how His Martyrdom took place. It was a very dignified commemoration and was shared with love and joy of the all friends present. I truly felt that radiant love in my heart!

For me, personally, it was a very emotional day!

I had been preparing myself all week and today while i was reading the story of the Bab's Martyrdom, I couldn't stop the tears flowing from my eyes during the reading.

I am also so very happy, that I told the children at "Tender Seedlings" (Baha'i Class for little toddlers) about the Bab and His story last Saturday, because since then, each time little Mona would see a picture of the Shrine of the Bab in books or in videos, she would point out to the picture and say: "Look mummy, it's the Bab!".

And Mona knew that today was a very special day to remember the Bab.

At the house of our dear friends, there were huge framed pictures of the Shrine of the Bab hanging on the walls, and Mona did point out to some of the pictures to let everyone know that it was the Bab.

And when she say a picture of 'Abdu'l-Baha (Son of Baha'u'llah), while He was still young, she pointed to the picture saying: "It's Baha'u'llah"! lol... I told her that it wasn't a picture of Baha'u'llah but of 'Abdu'l-Baha when he was younger. And then she said "Aaahhh!". lol...

As I prepared myself spiritually for the commemoration of the Martyrdom of the Bab, in the her own way, Mona prepared herself. And the songs that my father send me about the Bab, also helped Mona to connected more with one of the Central figures of our Faith.

After the commemoration, we had a big pot luck lunch, with yummy Persian dishes and sweets.

We went for a big drive while Mona was having her nap in the car, and when she woke up we were at the beach in the area where we used to live, and she was so happy and excited when she recognized the playground.

We then went to visit Mona's great grandma, Maman Ruhi and her great great grandma, Aghijoon. She really enjoyed her time there too.

We went to the shopping center for a little bit and then had dinner together before we headed back home.

Here are some pictures of Mona in the arms of the host at the Commemoration of the Martyrdom of the Bab.

She was so happy there, and kept calling the host and other ladies 'haleh' (which means auntie), and was happily going in their arms and giving them hugs. She didn't want to leave when it was time to go...