diff --git a/Classes/PHPWord/Template.php b/Classes/PHPWord/Template.php
index a01a854166..d93cd0c6e3 100755
--- a/Classes/PHPWord/Template.php
+++ b/Classes/PHPWord/Template.php
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ public function __construct($strFilename)
         if ($this->_tempFileName !== false) {
             // Copy the source File to the temp File
             if (!copy($strFilename, $this->_tempFileName)) {
-                throw new PHPWord_Exception('Could not copy the template from ' . $strFilename . ' to ' . $this->_tempFileName . '.');
+                throw new PHPWord_Exception("Could not copy the template from {$strFilename} to {$this->_tempFileName}.");
             }
 
             $this->_objZip = new ZipArchive();
@@ -75,6 +75,36 @@ public function __construct($strFilename)
             throw new PHPWord_Exception('Could not create temporary file with unique name in the default temporary directory.');
         }
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Applies XSL style sheet to template's parts
+     *
+     * @param DOMDocument &$xslDOMDocument
+     * @param array $xslOptions = array()
+     * @param string $xslOptionsURI = ''
+     */
+    public function applyXslStyleSheet(&$xslDOMDocument, $xslOptions = array(), $xslOptionsURI = '')
+    {
+        $processor = new \XSLTProcessor();
+
+        $processor->importStylesheet($xslDOMDocument);
+
+        if ($processor->setParameter($xslOptionsURI, $xslOptions) === false) {
+            throw new \Exception('Could not set values for the given XSL style sheet parameters.');
+        }
+
+        $xmlDOMDocument = new \DOMDocument();
+        if ($xmlDOMDocument->loadXML($this->_documentXML) === false) {
+            throw new \Exception('Could not load XML from the given template.');
+        }
+
+        $xmlTransformed = $processor->transformToXml($xmlDOMDocument);
+        if ($xmlTransformed === false) {
+            throw new \Exception('Could not transform the given XML document.');
+        }
+
+        $this->_documentXML = $xmlTransformed;
+    }
 
     /**
      * Set a Template value
@@ -134,4 +164,4 @@ public function save($strFilename)
 
         rename($this->_tempFileName, $strFilename);
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/Tests/PHPWord/TemplateTest.php b/Tests/PHPWord/TemplateTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..643fa29ce1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/PHPWord/TemplateTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+<?php
+namespace PHPWord\Tests;
+
+use PHPWord_Template;
+
+/**
+ * @coversDefaultClass PHPWord_Template
+ */
+class PHPWord_TemplateTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    /**
+     * @covers ::applyXslStyleSheet
+     * @test
+     */
+    final public function testXslStyleSheetCanBeApplied()
+    {
+        // TODO: implement after merge of the issue https://github.com/PHPOffice/PHPWord/issues/56
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @covers                   ::applyXslStyleSheet
+     * @expectedException        Exception
+     * @expectedExceptionMessage Could not set values for the given XSL style sheet parameters.
+     * @test
+     */
+    final public function testXslStyleSheetCanNotBeAppliedOnFailureOfSettingParameterValue()
+    {
+        $template = new PHPWord_Template(
+            \join(\DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR,
+            array(\PHPWORD_TESTS_DIR_ROOT, '_files', 'templates', 'blank.docx'))
+        );
+
+        $xslDOMDocument = new \DOMDocument();
+        $xslDOMDocument->load(
+            \join(\DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR,
+            array(\PHPWORD_TESTS_DIR_ROOT, '_files', 'xsl', 'passthrough.xsl'))
+        );
+
+        /*
+         * We have to use error control below, because XSLTProcessor::setParameter omits warning on failure.
+         * This warning fails the test.
+         */
+        @$template->applyXslStyleSheet($xslDOMDocument, array(1 => 'somevalue'));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @covers                   ::applyXslStyleSheet
+     * @expectedException        Exception
+     * @expectedExceptionMessage Could not load XML from the given template.
+     * @test
+     */
+    final public function testXslStyleSheetCanNotBeAppliedOnFailureOfLoadingXmlFromTemplate()
+    {
+        $template = new PHPWord_Template(
+            \join(\DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR,
+            array(\PHPWORD_TESTS_DIR_ROOT, '_files', 'templates', 'corrupted_main_document_part.docx'))
+        );
+
+        $xslDOMDocument = new \DOMDocument();
+        $xslDOMDocument->load(
+            \join(\DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR,
+            array(\PHPWORD_TESTS_DIR_ROOT, '_files', 'xsl', 'passthrough.xsl'))
+        );
+
+        /*
+         * We have to use error control below, because DOMDocument::loadXML omits warning on failure.
+         * This warning fails the test.
+         */
+        @$template->applyXslStyleSheet($xslDOMDocument);
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Tests/_files/templates/blank.docx b/Tests/_files/templates/blank.docx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..071b7f350d
Binary files /dev/null and b/Tests/_files/templates/blank.docx differ
diff --git a/Tests/_files/templates/corrupted_main_document_part.docx b/Tests/_files/templates/corrupted_main_document_part.docx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..69712525a4
Binary files /dev/null and b/Tests/_files/templates/corrupted_main_document_part.docx differ
diff --git a/Tests/_files/xsl/passthrough.xsl b/Tests/_files/xsl/passthrough.xsl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4ab21dd745
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/_files/xsl/passthrough.xsl
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
+                xmlns:w="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main">
+
+    <xsl:template match='@*|node()'>
+        <xsl:copy>
+            <xsl:apply-templates select='@*|node()'/>
+        </xsl:copy>
+    </xsl:template>
+
+</xsl:stylesheet>
\ No newline at end of file