"Hosanna! Hosanna! to God and the Lamb," Ensign, Apr. 2004, 37
On 27 March 1836 the Prophet Joseph Smith dedicated the Kirtland Temple, the first temple built in the latter days. He prayed "that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord's house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness" (D&C 109:13).
Following the prayer, the choir sang a new hymn written by W. W. Phelps especially for the dedication-"The Spirit of God."
We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven,
Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!
Let glory to them in the highest be given,
Henceforth and forever, Amen and amen!
(Hymns, no. 2)
Since 1836 these words have not only been sung at every Latter-day Saint temple dedication but have filled hearts with the Spirit of the Holy Ghost in untold numbers of life situations.
Following are images that remind us that we are blessed to live in a time when more than 100 temples provide opportunities for the making of eternal covenants as well as serve as a haven of peace and personal revelation.
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Here, Mitch Johnson features the natural setting of the Snowflake Arizona Temple.
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Watercolor artist Al Rounds chooses an unusual perspective of the Salt Lake Temple in View from Quince Street, Salt Lake City.
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Keith Bond expresses his reverence for God's creations in a gold-leafed triptych titled The Creation. He won a Merit Award in the Church's Sixth International Art Competition.
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Peruvian Jeronimo Lozano won a Purchase Award in the Sixth International Art Competition for his clay and wood sculpture The Truth Revealed.
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James Ronald Bartlett honors the faith of the Nauvoo Saints in the Sixth International Art Competition. His sculpture The Nauvoo Pillar includes the tower of the temple, the flying angel, the pillar motif, and the familiar icons of sunstone, moonstone, and stars.
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Italian Valeriano Ugolini's Vision represents a vision of the future, taken from the past to bless the future. From the Sixth International Art Competition.
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Former astronaut Don Lind paints the Logan Utah Temple in a peaceful setting in Sacred Sentinel. He found peace in this temple after seven astronauts died when the space shuttle Columbia exploded. From the Sixth International Art Competition.
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James Shirley includes the Prophet Joseph Smith and President Gordon B. Hinckley in Return to Glory, painted on old weathered wood. From the Sixth International Art Competition.
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In Nauvoo Full Circle: Mortality to Immortality, Jill Cecil uses apples to represent mortality and butterflies to represent immortality. From the Sixth International Art Competition.
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Cloyd Bedke has painted many versions of the San Diego California Temple. This view shows the temple from the west, facing the mountains on the east.
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In Family Together Forever, Nigerian artist Asemota Izevbigie shows a family offering prayers of gratitude. Their elongated necks depict their vision, strength, and dedication to God through temple ordinances. From the Sixth International Art Competition.
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Troy Wenzel honors his temple-going grandparents in Omi and Opa. From the Sixth International Art Competition.
Gospel topics: arts, joy, temples