One of the special blessings that graces the precincts of the House of Worship in Wilmette is the close association between it and the beloved Master. From the very beginning there has been a special, even divine link. In 1909, 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote to the Baha'i world about a “strange coincidence” that took place on the very day that the remains of the Blessed Bab were interred in their final resting place on Mt. Carmel, when “a cablegram was received from Chicago, announcing that the believers…definitely decided on the site and construction of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar.”

Three years later when 'Abdu'l-Baha made His historic visit to the US, after inspecting the grounds upon which the Temple would be built, He addressed the gathered audience, saying, “The power which has gathered you here today notwithstanding the cold and windy weather is indeed mighty and wonderful. It is the power of God, the divine favour of Baha'u'llah which has drawn you together…Thousands of Mashriqu’l-Adhkars, dawning-points of praise and mentionings of God for all religionists will be built in the Orient and Occident, but this being the first one erected in the Occident has great importance. In the future there will be many here and elsewhere; in Asia, Europe, even in Africa, New Zealand and Australia; but this edifice in Chicago is of especial significance….”

Just over forty years later the Temple was completed. And Baha'u'llah’s Words, addressed to another land and another time, speak of the blessings surrounding this wondrous Temple by virtue of 'Abdu'l-Baha’s visit—“Blessed, doubly blessed, is the ground which His footsteps have trodden, the eye that hath been cheered by the beauty of His countenance … the heart that hath tasted the sweetness of His love, the breast that hath dilated through His remembrance, the pen that hath voiced His praise, the scroll that hath borne the testimony of His writings."