The Nineteen Day Feast
With the development of the Baha'i administrative order since the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha, the Nineteen Day Feast, observed on the first day of each Baha'i month, has assumed a very special importance, providing as it does not only for community prayer and reading from the Holy Books, but also for general consultation on all current Baha'i affairs and for the association of the friends together. This Feast is the occasion when the Spiritual Assembly makes its reports to the community and invites both discussion of plans and suggestions for new and better methods of service. (120:1)

Mashriqu'l-Adhkar
Baha'u'llah left instructions that temples of worship should be built by His followers in every country and city. To these temples He gave the name of "Mashriqu'l-Adhkar," which means "Dawning Place of God's Praise." The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar is to be a nine-sided building surmounted by a dome, and as beautiful as possible in design and workmanship. It is to stand in a large garden adorned with fountains, trees and flowers, surrounded by a number of accessory buildings devoted to educational, charitable and social purposes, so that the worship of God in the temple may always be closely associated with reverent delight in the beauties of nature and of art, and with practical work for the amelioration of social conditions. (120:2)

In Persia, up till the present, Baha'is have been debarred from building temples for public worship, and so the first great Mashriqu'l-Adhkar was built in Ishqabad, Russia. 'Abdu'l-Baha dedicated the site of the second Baha'i House of Worship, to stand on the shore of Lake Michigan a few miles north of Chicago, during His visit to America in 1912. (120:3)

In tablets referring to this "Mother Temple" of the West, 'Abdu'l-Baha writes as follows: (120:4)

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