The Sator Square

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West)

In the first two hundred years of Christianity, Roman Christians often hung a “Sator Square” outside of their homes, to signal to other Christians their secret faith, and to mark places where the Church would meet. In broken Latin, it says something like “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, and it reads the same backwards and up and down. When the letters are unscrambled, however, they say “Pater Noster” (Our Father) with leftover Alphas and Omegas, making a moral statement that forms a Christogram, which in turn reflects the nature of Christ, the Cross, and His role of Creator and Judge. Such a sophisticated, multilayered symbol for such a young religion!