Our Standard in Christ — 26 Years of Witness
The enduring emblem of our mission, carried across nations as a sign of Christ’s victory
Our church of St Joseph’s at Orange County California adopted this as the emblem across all our publications in the year 2000. It was one of my first acts once I was ordained by the board as Editor of our newsletter.
Several thousand articles were subsequently published and seen by millions (mostly online).
Once I went on mission to Europe (where I remained for 13 years) this was shown across countless advertisements in Europe and Britain as a rally standard for people to find our messages online, to find encouragement and align. The main base of the cross is a victory standard (Christ’s Victory) really used and seen anywhere in Christian lands. We pray and hope people will embrace Him again. We must all rely on Christ, and come back to His good laws for nations and peoples.
It is the shield of St Joseph of Arimathea, with the adaptation of the Chi Rho (which Constantine’s British mother, a descendant of St Joseph via King Coel, had popularized) together with the Alpha and Omega victory of Christ Who is the beginning and the end.
Many other slogans have been used, IN HOC SIGNO VINCES (in this sign conquer).
Chi Rho is the Greek abbreviation of the word for Christ Jesus. Using various abbreviations and short prayers are part of the Orthodox ways and traditions to fulfill: “Acknowledge Him in all thy ways and He shall direct thy paths.” (Pro 3:6) “Let your conversation always become the Gospel...” (Phil 1:27)
We’ve seen something like this happening again in England with the raising up of the standards of St George (which is the standard of St Joseph before him), which later became the standard of Crusaders. However, I think they will need to become a bit more religious to see such efforts come to a fruition.
In Hoc Signo Vinces — In Christ’s Victory,
Rev Dr Stephen MK Brunswick
St. Andrew’s & St. Joseph’s OCC
https://st-andrewsocc.org
