He [the Guardian] reminded me that Canada does not yet have
its Temple grounds. I relayed to him a remark of one of the friends. This
friend wondered if the Divine Hand of Providence were preventing us from
finding Temple grounds because possibly we were ignoring ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s
statement as quoted by Mrs. Maxwell that the Temple would be built on the
slopes of Mt. Royal.He said that ‘Abdu’l-Baha was not necessarily referring to the National Temple of Canada. He directed that if it becomes clearly impossible to find Temple grounds in Toronto, the NSA should seek property in Ottawa – not Montreal.
One evening he told us that he had just received good news. Italy had purchased its Temple land. He then said, with a smile as he turned to me, “Italy is off my list – only Canada remains on my list – my black one. I have two lists, a black one and a white one’”
- Allan Raynor (Notes of his
pilgrimage in 1956)
