Station of the Cross
- noun
- /ˈsteɪʃən əv ðə krɔs/
:
Estación de la Cruz
- Visitors often take time to pray at each Station of the Cross displayed in the church.
Examples
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By performing familiar, standardized activities, such as visiting the Stations of the Cross or praying to Mary, pilgrims are able to deal with uncertainty and lessen anxiety.
Academic text (1997) -
This is a gushing, saccharine, cloying prayer for Mary, the Forty Hours, the Stations of the Cross, the Novenas, and every empty devotion that he forced himself through without feeling.
Fiction book (2000) -
Most of the visitors were here, it seemed, strolling around among statues that turned out to be Jesus at the Stations of the Cross.
Fiction book (1993) -
Without knowing it, perhaps, he has picked this spot quite appropriately, for it is situated right behind one of the stops in the local reenactment of the Stations of the Cross.
Fiction book (2000) -
It took me a good forty-five minutes to repeat a Credo/Pater Noster/Hail Mary combination by each Station of the Cross.
Fiction book (1994) -
She ascended a different flight of concrete steps and found herself back at the Stations of the Cross, staring across a flagstone terrace at the Holy Steps.
Fiction book (1993) -
Many wake up early to see the sunrise and climb Mount Krizevac, saying the rosary at the Stations of the Cross along the way (Weible 1989) (Figure 4).
Academic text (1997) -
Many families decorate their homes with images of the Stations of the Cross during Lent.
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Each Station of the Cross serves as a reminder of Christ's suffering on his journey to Calvary.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'station' (a stop or point) with 'the Cross' (the Christian symbol), so a learner can infer it refers to a stop/point related to the Cross. However, the specific devotional meaning—one of the numbered images or stops depicting Christ's journey used in church practice—is culturally specialized and not fully predictable from the parts alone, requiring prior religious or cultural knowledge.
Etymology
Station of the Cross comes from the Christian practice of moving from one picture to the next that shows Jesus's journey to the cross. Each station was a 'stop' for 'prayer' and to remember an event, so today the phrase means one of those pictures or stops used for prayer.
