Afire with that same love that burned so brightly in the hearts of its earliest pioneers, holding fast to the strong cord of the spiritual precepts and administrative principles of the Faith it has so whole-heartedly espoused, confident of its ability to achieve, in its entirety, the Mission entrusted to it by the Author of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, this community must forge ahead, with undeviating loyalty, with indomitable courage, with unbreakable unity, and exemplary consecration, striving to scale loftier heights, and widening constantly the range of its operations, on the American mainland as well as in neighbouring and distant islands, until each and every objective of its allotted task has been triumphantly attained. SHOGHI. FOOTNOTES 1 Mrs. May Ellis Maxwell—spiritual mother of the Canadian Bahá’í community, became a believer in 1898, visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1899 and returned to Paris to found the first Bahá’í centre on the European continent, married Sutherland Maxwell and settled in Montreal in 1902, achieved “the priceless honor of a martyr’s death” in Argentina in 1940. For a review of the vast range of her contributions to the Faith in Europe and America, see “Bahá’í World” Vol. VIII, In Memoriam. 2 The Tablets of the Divine Plan, revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1916–17, and addressed severally to the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada, constitute the authority for the successive Plans inaugurated by the Guardian for the spread of the Faith and the establishment of its Institutions throughout the world. 3 The city of Montreal, Quebec, visited by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá August 30-September 12, 1912. 4 Mrs. May Ellis Maxwell—spiritual mother of the Canadian Bahá’í community, became a believer in 1898, visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1899 and returned to Paris to found the first Bahá’í centre on the European continent, married Sutherland Maxwell and settled in Montreal in 1902, achieved “the priceless honor of a martyr’s death” in Argentina in 1940. For a review of the vast range of her contributions to the Faith in Europe and America, see “Bahá’í World” Vol. VIII, In Memoriam. 5 The Bill to incorporate the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada was passed by both Houses of the Canadian Parliament, and given Royal assent on April 30, 1949. 6 The Bill to incorporate the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada was passed by both Houses of the Canadian Parliament, and given Royal assent on April 30, 1949. 7 William Sutherland Maxwell—architect of the Shrine of the Báb, appointed a Hand of the Cause of God in 1951, died in Montreal in 1952. His “saintly life” is described in “Bahá’í World” Vol. XII, In Memoriam.