The new Temple of light is the outward expression of the
illumination of hearts and minds by the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, that process
initiated in these islands at the turn of the century and now reaching a mighty
crescendo. The effulgent light of His Teachings has aroused stirrings in the
friends, impelling them to apply these heavenly principles in their personal
lives and in the daily activities of their communities. Just as the spiritual
illumination of the Baha'is is symbolized in the Temple, so the development of
local community life in all its aspects, whether administrative or social,
which flow from the fountainhead of faith in God's Revelation, will reach a
fuller expression in the form of various dependencies around this edifice --
dependencies which the Guardian described as "institutions of social
service as shall afford relief to the suffering, sustenance to the poor,
shelter to the wayfarer, solace to the bereaved, and education to the
ignorant."
- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated August 1984 to the
friends gathered in Apia, Western Samoa on the occasion of the dedication of
the Mother Temple of the Pacific Islands; ‘Messages from the Universal House of
Justice 1963-1986’)
