Christmas Night at a London Shelter
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
London (today: London, UK)
On Christmas night, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited a Salvation Army Shelter in London where a thousand homeless men ate a special Christmas dinner. He spoke to them while they ate, reminding them that Jesus had been poor and that it was easier for the poor than the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The men sat enthralled. Some were so impressed that in spite of hunger and the special dinner before them they forgot to eat. When, on leaving, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave the warden of the Shelter money with which to buy a similar dinner on New Year’s night, the men rose to their feet to cheer Him as He went, waving their knives and forks in the air. They little realized that He had experienced trials, hardship and suffering far greater than any they had known.
Source: Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Annamarie Honnold), p. 78.
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: christmas).
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/christmas
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
Refuge at Abú-Sinán
When war came in 1914, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá moved the Bahá’ís of Haifa to the Druze village of Abú-Sinán, where vegetables He had taught them to grow and corn from ‘Adasíyyih kept many from hunger.
Caring for the Sick
‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the sick, sent daily to ask after them, and quietly paid a doctor to care for the poor of ‘Akká. When a poor, crippled woman with measles was shunned, He arranged her care and, at the last, her funeral.
Among the Poor of London and New York
On Christmas night 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke to a thousand homeless men at a Salvation Army shelter in London; at New York’s Bowery Mission He spoke to the men and gave each the price of a bed.
Strict Imprisonment Renewed
In consequence of this and other equally unfounded charges, in 1901, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His family, who for more than twenty years had been allowed the freedom of the country for some miles around Akká, were again, for over seven years …