| Hand of the Cause, whom, in 1942, Shoghi Effendi called 'that archetype of Bahá'í itinerant teachers and the foremost
Hand raised by Bahá'u'lláh since 'Abdu'l-Bahá's passing' and to whom
he awarded the title of 'Leading Ambassadress of His Faith and Pride
of Bahá'í teachers, whether men or women, in both the East and the
West'24 |
| Martha Root was the first to arise in response to the call of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in The Tablets of the Divine Plan. She traveled around the world
four times over a period of twenty years, traveling four times to China
and Japan, three times to India, and visiting every major city in South
America. She spoke of the Bahá'í Faith to 'kings, queens, princes and
princesses, presidents of republics, ministers and statesmen, publicists,
professors, clergymen and poets, as well as a vast number of people in various walks of life, and contacted, both officially and informally,
religious congresses, peace societies, Esperanto associations, socialist
congresses, Theosophical societies, women's clubs and other kindred
organizations. . .'25 Her eight successive audiences with Queen Marie of Rumania resulted in the Queen becoming a Bahá'í. Her death in
Honolulu in September 1939 'brought to a close a life which may well
be regarded as the fairest fruit as yet yielded by the Formative Age of
the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh.'26 |
| [BD 198-9] |
|
