Once again the friends of Washington, D. C., were called upon to translate into the world of action the divine injunction of Bahâ’u’llâh, "I have made death to thee as glad-tidings ...” Without this teaching the devoted friends of Mme. Josephine Cowles deLagnel would have been a sorrowful group, for her passing into the life eternal and radiant would have meant a bereavement inexpressibly great and very deeply felt. This faithful maid-servant was for many years an active and beloved member of the Washington Baha’i Community and for many years she had served on the Local Spiritual Assembly.
Mme. deLagnel became a Baha’i in 1902, and from the day she entered the Fold she was a comprehending follower of the Faith, —loyal, devoted, sincere at every point and at all times. She had "found her Lord,” as she so often said, and so all of the Teachings emanating from the Source of Life and Light and Love in this Great Day constituted her armor and buckler and were indeed all-in-all to her. Through the creative effect of the Holy Utterances she had developed spiritual ears and spiritual eyes and a keen spiritual perception. Her greatest charm was her firmness in faith and her longing to serve the Most Great Cause. She was eighty-five years of age, yet she was active up to the time of her serious illness which began about six weeks before the final dissolution of that once very strong body. She was well equipped for service for she had a strong spirit and a strong mind in a strong body.
Those who knew her well during all the thirty years of her devotion to the Cause will remember her unique and beautiful character, and the Washington friends in particular will always remember that her home was the Baha’i meeting-place for years. When 'Abdu’l-Bahâ was in Washington in 1912, He visited her home, and thereafter she herself and many others considered the home was especially blessed and that it had an unusually pure spiritual atmosphere.
'Abdu’l-Baha said to her, "She is My real daughter, there is no one who could be dearer to me than she is because she really serves. I love her. I love her very much.” And in one of her own Tablets from Him, these words, "Every soul has a protector, but praise be to God thou hast God.” And during the storms and stress of life she held firmly to these Holy Words.
(The Baha’i World 1932-1934)
