The Feast With Three Parts

*A retelling for children, based on **Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era** by J. E. Esslemont (1923), with a verse from the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.*

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The Bahá'í year has nineteen months, and each month has nineteen days. On the first day of every month, the Bahá'ís of each town or village come together for the Nineteen Day Feast.

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Bahá'u'lláh Himself asked for this gathering. In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, His Most Holy Book, He wrote:

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> Verily, it is enjoined upon you to offer a feast, once in every month, > though only water be served; for God hath purposed to bind hearts > together, albeit through both earthly and heavenly means.

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J. E. Esslemont, in his book *Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era*, describes three things that happen at the Feast.

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First, the friends pray together and listen to readings from the Holy Books.

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Next, they talk over the affairs of their community. The Spiritual Assembly, the group the Bahá'ís elect to look after the community, tells everyone what it has been doing. Then it asks the friends what they think of its plans, and whether they have ideas for new and better ways to serve.

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Last, the friends spend time in one another's company, even if only water is served.

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*This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see ["The Three Portions of the Nineteen Day Feast"](/stories/hd-nineteen-day-feast-three-portions).*

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