Following is the text of the Cardston Alberta Temple dedicatory prayer offered by President Heber J. Grant. The temple was dedicated Aug. 26-29, 1923, in 11 sessions.
O God, the Eternal Father, we, Thy servants and handmaidens, thank Thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, Thy well-beloved Son, with all the power of our being, that we are privileged this day to be present in this choice land to dedicate unto Thy most Holy Name, a temple of the Living God.
We thank Thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that Thou and Thy Son, Jesus Christ, did visit the boy, Joseph Smith, Jr., and that he was instructed by Thee, and by Thy Beloved Son.
We thank Thee that Thou didst send Thy servant, John the Baptist, and that he did lay his hands upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and ordain them to the Aaronic, or Lesser Priesthood.
We thank Thee for sending Thy servants Peter, James and John, Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, who ministered with the Savior in the flesh and after His crucifixion, and that they did ordain Thy servants Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, and bestow upon them the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, by which authority and apostleship we do dedicate unto Thee, this day, this holy edifice.
We thank Thee for the integrity and the devotion of Thy servants, the Prophet and Patriarch, Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith. We thank Thee that they labored in Thy cause all the days of their lives, from the time of restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ until the day of their martyrdom, and that they were faithful even to the sealing of their testimony with their blood.
We thank Thee for Thy servants, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph F. Smith, who have severally stood at the head of Thy Church since the martyrdom of Thy servant Joseph Smith, and who have led and directed Thy people by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, and who have sent forth representatives to proclaim the everlasting gospel in nearly every land and clime.
We thank Thee for all the faithful members of the First Presidency of the Church, and for the Apostles, in this last dispensation; and for each and all of the faithful men who have ministered as general authorities of the Church.
O God, our Eeternal Father, we pray Thee to bless the Presidency of Thy Church—Thy servants, Heber J. Grant, Charles W. Penrose, and Anthony W. Ivins. May these men, O Father, be guided by the unerring counsels of Thy Holy Spirit, day by day. May they be even as a three-fold cord that cannot be broken. May they see eye to eye in all matters for the upbuilding of the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth.
Bless, O Father, each and all of the Apostles, the Presiding Patriarch, the First Council of the Seventy, and the Presiding Bishopric. We particularly pray for Thy choice blessings to be with President Charles W. Penrose, and Elders Reed Smoot, Orson F. Whitney, and David O. McKay, who are unable to be present on this occasion.
Bless, we beseech Thee, those who preside in all the stakes of Zion, and in all the wards and branches of the Church, and over the various quorums of the Priesthood, whether of the Melchizedek or of the Aaronic Priesthood.
Bless those who preside over the missions of the Church throughout the world, together with all Thy servants and handmaidens who have gone forth to proclaim to the peoples of the world the restoration to the earth of the plan of life and salvation.
Bless those, O Father, who have been called to preside and labor in this temple and also in other temples that have been erected to Thy Holy Name in the land of Zion and in the Hawaiian Islands. We thank Thee for all of the temples that have been erected in this last dispensation, and we pray Thy choice blessings to be and abide with all those who minister therein. We pray that the same sweet spirit which is present in all of the temples that have heretofore been ercted may abide with all those who shall labor in this holy house.
Bless those who preside and who labor in the Church schools which have been established from Canada on the north to Mexico in the south, and in the far off islands of the Pacific Ocean.
Bless, O Father in Heaven, all Thy servants and handmaidens who hold responsible positions in the various auxiliary organizations of Thy Church, whether as general, stake, ward or mission officers; in the Relief Societies, in the Sunday schools, in the Mutual Improvement associations, in the Primary association, and in the Religion Class organizations. Bless each and everyone who is laboring for the benefit of the members as well as the members themselves in these associations.
We thank Thee that Thy servant, President John Taylor, and many other residents of the Dominion of Canada, came to a knowledge of the gospel and remained steadfast to the end of their lives. We thank Thee, our Father, and our God, for those now living, who embraced the gospel in this choice land and others who have emigrated from the United States and other countries to Canada, and that they are now to have the privilege of entering into this holy house and laboring for the salvation of their ancestors.
We thank Thee, O God, for the inspiration by which Thy faithful and diligent servant, President Joseph F. Smith, was moved upon to direct the construction of a temple in this favored land; and that he had the privilege of visiting this spot of ground upon which this temple now stands, and dedicating the same for the erection of a temple to the Most High God.
We thank Thee for the long and faithful and diligent labors of Thy servant, President Charles O. Card, the pioneer in this section and after whom this city was named, and for the faithful and diligent men who have labored in the presiding offices in the stakes of Zion established here in Alberta.
We thank Thee, O God, our Eternal Father, that the land of Palestine, the land where our Savior and Redeemer ministered in the flesh where He gave to the world the plan of life and salvation, is now redeemed from the thralldom of the unbeliever, and is now under the fostering care of the great, enlightened and liberty-loving empire of Great Britain. We acknowledge Thy hand, O God, in the wonderful events which have led up to the partial redemption of the land of Judah, and we beseech Thee, O Father, that the Jews may, at no far distant date, be gathered home to the land of their fathers.
We thank Thee that Thy servants, the Prophets Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, were moved upon to send Apostles to Jerusalem to dedicate that land for the return of the Jews.
We acknowledge Thy hand, O God, our Heavenly Father, in the fact that one of the benefits of the great World War, through which the nations of the earth have recently passed, is the opportunity afforded the Jews to return to the land of their fathers.
We beseech Thee, our Father in heaven, that the victory which came to the cause of the Allies may lead to increased liberty and peace throughout all the nations of the earth.
We pray that Thy blessings may be upon kings, rulers and nobles, in all nations, that they may minister in justice and righteousness and give liberty and freedom to the peoples over whom they rule.
We thank Thee that the spirit of justice and righteousness has characterized the rulers in the British Empire, and we humbly beseech Thee that the people of this great nation and the people of the world may overcome selfishness and refrain from strife, contention, and all bitterness, and that they may grow and increase in the love of country, in loyalty and patriotism and in a determination to do what is right and just.
We beseech Thee, O God in Heaven, that the people of Canada may ever seek Thee for guidance and direction, that Thy declaration that the American continent is a land choice above all other lands, and Thy promise that it shall be protected against all foes, provided the people serve Thee, may be fulfilled, and that the people may grow in power, and strength and dominion, and, above all, in a love of Thy truth.
We thank Thee, O Father in heaven, for the splendid treatment that has been accorded by the officials in the Dominion of Canada to those of Thy people who have immigrated to this country, and we humbly pray Thee to aid Thy sons and Thy daughters who have taken upon them Thy name so to order their lives in righteousness and truth that they may retain the good will of the people this country and merit the same because of their good works.
We thank Thee, O God, that Thy Son, our Redeemer, after having been crucified and having laid down his life for the sins of the world, did open the prison doors and proclaim the gospel of repentance unto those who had been disobedient in the days of Noah, and that He subsequently came to the land of America, where he established His Church and chose disciples to guide the same.
We thank Thee for restoring again to the earth the ordinances of the gospel of Thy Son Jesus Christ, whereby men and women can be, in very deed, saviors upon Mount Zion, and where they can enter into Thy holy temples and perform the ordinances necessary for the salvation of those who have died without a knowledge of the gospel.
We thank Thee, O Father, above all things, for the gospel of Thy Son Jesus Christ, and for the Priesthood of the living God, and that we have been made partakers of the same, and have an abiding knowledge of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged.
We thank Thee for the words of Thy Son Jesus Christ to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon: "This is the gospel, the glad tidings which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us, that he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness, that through Him all might be saved whom the Father had put into His power and made by Him, who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of His hands."
We thank Thee, O Father, that Thou didst send Thy son Jesus Christ, to visit Thy servants Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland temple, the first temple erected by Thy people in this last dispensation. We thank Thee for the words of our Redeemer spoken in that temple: "I am the first and the last: I am He who liveth; I am He who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father. Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice. Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to My name. For behold, I have accepted this house, and My name shall be here; and I will manifest Myself to my people in mercy in this house."
We thank Thee, O God, that by the testimony of Thy Holy Spirit Thou hast manifested Thine acceptance of the several temples that have been erected from the days of Kirtland until this present time.
We also thank Thee for sending Thy servants, Moses and Elias, and Elijah, to the Kirtland temple, to confer upon Thy servants, Joseph and Oliver, the keys of every dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ from the days of Father Adam down to the present dispensation, which is the dispensation of the fulness of times.
We thank Thee that, through the visitation of Elijah, the prophecy of Thy servant Malachi—that the hearts of the fathers should be turned to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest the earth be smitten with a curse—has been fulfilled in our day, and that our hearts in very deed go out to our fathers; and we rejoice beyond our ability to express that we can, through the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ, become saviors of our ancestors.
We thank Thee, O God, with all our hearts for the testimony of Thy servants Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon: "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of Him: that He lives! For we saw Him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that He is the only Begotten of the Father—that by Him, and through Him, and of Him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God."
We thank Thee, O Father, for the knowledge which we possess, that Thou dost live, and that Thy Son Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, and our Savior, and that Thy servant, Joseph Smith, Jr., was and is a prophet of the true and living God. And, O Father, may we ever be true and faithful to the gospel of Thy Son Jesus Christ, revealed through Thy servant Joseph.
We beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thou wilt stay the hand of the destroyer among the descendants of Lehi, who reside in this land, and give unto them increasing virility and more abundant health, that they may not perish as a people, but that from this time forth they may increase in numbers and in strength and in influence, that all the great and glorious promises made concerning the descendants of Lehi, may be fulfilled in them; that they may grow in vigor of body and of mind, and above all in love for Thee and Thy Son, and increase in diligence and in faithfulness in keeping the commandments which have come to them through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that many of them may yet have the privilege of entering this holy house and receiving ordinances for themselves and their departed ancestors.
We pray Thee, O Father, to bless this land that it may be fruitful, that it may yield abundantly, and that all who dwell hereon may be prospered in righteousness.
Bless Thy people in all parts of the world. Continue to remember Thy Saints in the Valleys of the Mountains, whereunto they were led by Thy divine guidance, and where the greatest of all temples in this dispensation has been erected, and where Thou hast blessed and prospered Thy people even beyond all that could have been expected.
We especially pray Thee, O Father in Heaven, to bless the youth of Thy people in Zion and in all the world. Shield them from the adversary and from wicked and designing men. Keep the youth of Thy people, O Father, in the straight and narrow path that leads to Thee, preserve them from the pitfalls and snares that are laid for their feet. O Father, may our children grow up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ. Give unto them a testimony of the divinity of this work as Thou hast given it unto us, and preserve them in purity and in the truth.
We now thank Thee, O God, our Eternal Father, for this beautiful temple and the ground upon which it stands, and we dedicate the building, with its grounds, with all its furnishings and fittings, and everything pertaining thereunto, from the foundation to the roof hereof, to Thee, our Father and our God. And we humbly pray Thee, O God, the Eternal Father, to accept of it and to sanctify it, and to consecrate it through Thy Spirit to the holy purposes for which it has been erected.
We beseech Thee to enable us so to guard this house that no unclean thing shall enter here. May Thy Spirit ever dwell in this holy house and rest upon all who shall labor as officers and workers herein, as well as upon all who shall come here to perform ordinances for the living or for the dead.
May Thy peace ever abide in this holy building, that all who come here may partake of the spirit of peace and of the sweet and heavenly influence that Thy Saints have experienced in other temples. Protect this building from the powers and elements of destruction.
May all who come upon the grounds which surround this temple, whether members of the Church of Christ or not, feel the sweet and peaceful influence of this blessed and hallowed spot.
O God, our Heavenly and Eternal Father, sanctify the words which we have spoken, and accept of the dedication of this house, and these grounds, which we have dedicated unto Thee by virtue of the Priesthood of the Living God which we hold, and we most earnestly pray that this sacred building may be a place in which Thy Son may see fit to manifest Himself and to instruct Thy servants, and in which Thou shall delight to dwell.
All this we ask and do in the authority of the Holy Priesthood and in the name of Thine Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen and Amen.
