October 3. On this date in 1939, Shoghi Effendi posthumously appointed Martha Root as a Hand of the Cause of God. Martha Root had eight meetings with Queen Marie of Romania, which occurred from January 1926 through February 1936. Although Bahá'ís frequently refer to her as "the first member of a royal family to embrace the Bahá’í Faith,"Queen Marie's daughter disputes this claim.

 

 

October 3. On this date in 1939, Shoghi Effendi posthumously appointed Martha Root as a Hand of the Cause of God. Martha Root had eight meetings with Queen Marie of Romania, which occurred from January 1926 through February 1936. Although Bahá'ís frequently refer to her as "the first member of a royal family to embrace the Bahá’í Faith,"Queen Marie's daughter disputes this claim:

"It is perfectly true that my mother, Queen Marie, did receive Miss Martha Root several times.....She came at the moment when we were undergoing very great family and national stress. At such a moment it was natural that we were receptive to any kind of spiritual message, but it is quite incorrect to say that my mother or any of us at any time contemplated becoming a member of the Baha’i faith."