The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries Ancient and ModernTalmage, James E. (James Edward)
Religion
The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries Ancient and Modern
Talmage, James E. (James Edward)
Latter Day Saint temples; Temples
Each of the four arched-window recesses in the north is framed by
draped curtains of silk, which in material and design match the Veil.
On the south side are four pairs of double doors in position and size
symmetrically corresponding with the windows on the north. The portal
at the south-west, which is fitted with swinging doors, opens directly
into the upper corridor at the head of the grand stairway already
described; each of the three other portals is fitted with sliding
doors, and opens into a separate apartment slightly raised above the
floor of the large room, and reserved for special ceremonial work, more
specifically described beyond.
_Sealing Room for the Dead:_ The first of these three small rooms is
about ten by thirteen feet in the square with a semi-circular recess
five feet deep on the south side. This room is raised two steps above
the main floor. In the wall of this recess is a bay art window of
stained glass, representing with effective and impressing detail the
resurrected prophet Moroni delivering the plates of the Book of Mormon
to the youthful seer, Joseph Smith. It is a fitting symbol of the
actuality of communication between the dead and the living; and it is
to ordinances pertaining to this relationship the room is devoted;
this is the Sealing Room for the Dead. The west wall is occupied by a
large mirror. In the center stands a richly upholstered altar finished
in old-rose velvet and gold. The altar is six by three feet six inches
at its base and two feet six inches in height. Here kneel in humble
service the living proxies representing deceased husbands and wives,
parents and children. The only other furniture {192} consists of chairs
for the officiating elder, the witnesses, and persons awaiting the
ordinances at the altar.
_Sealing Room for the Living:_ The easterly room of the three is in
size and shape a counterpart of the last described. Its finishing,
however, is in brighter tone; the altar and chairs are upholstered in
crimson velvet, and the walls are of light tint. A mirror extends from
floor to ceiling on the east wall. This is the Sealing Room for the
Living. Here is solemnized the sacred ordinance of marriage between
parties who come to plight their vows of marital fidelity for time and
eternity, and to receive the seal of the eternal Priesthood upon their
union. Here also are performed the ordinances of sealing or adoption
of living children by their parents who were not at first united in
the order of celestial marriage.[7] On the south side of this room is
a door with transom and side panels of jeweled glass in floral design,
leading into a reception room which is provided for the accommodation
of parties awaiting the sealing ordinance. This room connects on the
west by a short passage with a smaller apartment,--another waiting
room, and this in turn opens upon the upper corridor at the head of the
grand stairway.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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