Days 6 to 9 of Baha'i Pilgrimage

I knew our 9 days of pilgrimage would fly by... but when the last day came, I could hardly believe it! I'm so glad we had so many visits to the Shrines, every day we got to pray in at least one.



It was a special treat to visit the old pilgrim house behind the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, where my first pilgrim group in 1999 actually spent our time in Bahji as the Bahji visitor's centre wasn't built yet.

I really enjoyed how one full day was dedicated to visiting the houses of 'Abdu'l-Baha. First we went to Abdullah Pasha. 

Then we went to numbers 4 and 10 Haparsim.

And last we went to the House of the Master (pictured above we are standing with our pilgrim guide, Monib!). 

Below the kids will share a few of their memories from our last four days of pilgrimage.

Zorion:

One morning, we had a tour of the Arc. First we went to the International Teaching Centre. It looked fairly small from the outside but actually had nine floors altogether (some were underground). 



Next was the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. It looked the biggest from the outside. It's the second oldest of the buildings and the pillars were the fanciest.



The people who carved the pillars had put their symbol, a honeybee, on one of them. (The bee is on the top centre leaf, on the left)

The Centre for the Study of the Texts is humidity controlled so all the books stay pristine.



They had a nice garden outside which had a fountain in the middle.



The last building was the Archives building which we had gone in on our third day.



The Temple Site is where the future House of Worship will be built. There's a nice view of the Haifa bay.



We went there with the other family who was in our pilgrimage group.



I went to four of the evening pilgrim talks, two by Universal House of Justice members and two by International Teaching Centre members. My favourite part was hearing other stories from around the world and what other Baha'is have done.



Cora:

One day we decided to go up the lower terraces to get to the PCR (actually PRC... Pilgrim Reception Centre). When we got up there, we prayed in the Shrine of the Bab then went to get tea. 



On the last day of pilgrimage, we took the bus to Bahji to go to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah one last time. 



After the bus ride, we walked to the pilgrim reception centre to eat snacks. Then we went to the Shrine. 



When we got back to Haifa, we walked down the upper terraces. I really enjoyed it because it was going down instead of up! It was less tiring going down. 



I think it was nice that you can feel the pain when you're going up so you can kind of remember the pain that Baha'u'llah had to go through when he was in the prison and walking up Mount Carmel in the past. 



I really enjoyed my pilgrimage visit. My favourite part of the last few days was saying prayers in the Shrines because once I said those prayers, I felt much more connected to the Messengers of God. 

Zavian:

One our last day, we went to Bahji which is where the Shrine of Baha’u’llah was. Dad had gone in to pray and when he got out he couldn't find his shoes. He looked all around, in the bushes, he asked some people, but he still couldn't find them. So he had to walk barefoot until we got back to the Pilgrim Reception Centre in Haifa where there is a closet of clothes to borrow. Dad found some shoes he could wear but the sole of one had ripped off and they were too big, but they were better than nothing. When we were in the dining room, dad looked over and saw an elderly man wearing his shoes and he told me to come with him to ask for his shoes back. The old man didn't know where his shoes were so dad let him keep the shoes, and dad bought new shoes. He said now he can appreciate having shoes that actually fit. 

Chelsea:

It was a truly special experience being on pilgrimage with Zaf and my kids. I could remember snippets from my own first pilgrimage at 14 years old, especially the last night when we all went to the Shrine of the Bab and said goodbye to our new friends.

I loved seeing all the Holy Places again, and revisiting some of the places I spent so many hours during my year of service.

 


Of course the beauty of the Shrines and the gardens was just unbelievable. To me, these sites in Haifa and Akka are truly the most magnificent places in the world.

Above was my last view over the terraces for who knows how many years, maybe forever! It was stunning.

We enjoyed a last evening out with our new (and some old) friends, and then it was time to say goodbye! I am so grateful we had this experience and hope the children will cherish it, as I do.