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 November 3, 2025 Fihavanana Day Celebrates Oneness and Unity Allison Wood and Bruno Randimbiarison “Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.” — Bahá’u’lláh 
My husband Bruno and I have been nurturing loving friendships within the Malagasy community for over 30 years. The Malagasy — people of the Island of Madagascar — are deeply spiritual and most have unwavering loyalty to the Christian Faith and traditional cultural beliefs. Those who have immigrated to Canada are quick to establish a spiritual community amongst themselves and establishing their own church services that are affiliated with various Christian denominations in Madagascar. This offers a sense of Malagasy identity to their children, many of whom are born and raised in Canada. Coming together on a regular basis helps keep the mother tongue of Malagasy alive, with a focus on service to others, as well as appreciation for traditional values, music and food. Years ago, we felt as one community. Over time, however, more church groups have sprung up and we realized that there was a need to nurture an increased sense of oneness and unity. To stay involved, Bruno and I have attended many of the church services over the decades in Ottawa, Hull and Gatineau, and we have also hosted several Malagasy individuals and families for Bahá'í devotionals, firesides (information evenings) and Holy Days. Two summers ago, we held a gathering called Fihavanana Day and invited members of the various churches, as well as Bahá'ís and other friends of the Faith for a multi-faith devotional and to study the ancient Malagasy concept of Fihavanana, which is the core ethical principle in which individuals, families and communities are to live together under one Creator (Zanahary) in unity and harmony, both in the physical and spiritual sense. This is demonstrated through mutual kindness, respect and service to the community, particularly attending to those in need. In Bruno's words: "Through wisdom of our traditional teachings, the Malagasy proverbs (which have multiple intertwined origins: from Austronesian and African heritage including some Islamic and Christian influence) we were taught to believe in the importance of taking responsibility in doing the right thing in life, that we each had our role in respecting God, the family and the community around us. We felt fear for not strengthening the unity in Fihavanana with the living and the ancestors who had gone before us." 
As language is deeply intertwined with cultural context it is difficult to present to the reader an accurate interpretation of the proverbs, however, here is an example of some Malagasy proverbs: "Andriamanitra no lohany, firaisan-kina no vatana," meaning "God is the head, and unity is the body." "Rano sy vary no mahavoky, firaisan-kina no mahery," meaning "Rice and water makes one full, but unity makes one strong." It is not difficult to see how the study of Malagasy proverbs relating to Fihavanana led to openness to study the Bahá'i Teachings on unity. The response was electric! A follow-up gathering occurred where we paralleled Malagasy proverbs on the existence of the soul with various Bahá'í quotes taken from Ruhi Book 1. "Let's do more of this!" was the response.  This led to starting Ruhi Book 1 (which has come to be called Faribolana, which means Spiritual Sharing Circle), that is done with two groups simultaneously: one group studies in Malagasy and French, the other studies in English. The two groups share their insights over a meal of traditional Malagasy food (pork, cassava leaves, voanjobory beans and vary amnanana), then there is singing in multiple harmonies and rich conversation continuing deep into the night. Approximately 30 people have participated to some extent, mostly Malagasy, but there have been others attending who are of various nationalities and who are enriching the feeling of universal peace and unity. It has been exciting to witness those in attendance being moved by the sacred writings and how eager they are to share the teachings within their own Christian communities. The youth keep inviting others to come. In fact, there are now enough youth for them to have their own Sharing Circle using the Ruhi structure. We all look forward to building a strong outward-looking community together, just as Fihavanana is meant to be. |
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