stations of the cross

or Stations of the Cross


plural noun Ecclesiastical.

a series of 14 representations of successive incidents from the Passion of Christ, each with a wooden cross, or a series of wooden crosses alone, set up in a church, or sometimes outdoors, and visited in sequence, for prayer and meditation.

Origin of stations of the cross

First recorded in 1885–90

British Dictionary definitions for stations of the cross

Stations of the Cross

pl n RC Church

a series of 14 crosses, often accompanied by 14 pictures or carvings, arranged in order around the walls of a church, to commemorate 14 supposed stages in Christ's journey to Calvary
a devotion consisting of 14 prayers relating to each of these stages