cross bearer

• crossbearer, cross-bearer

cross bearer (plural cross bearers)

1. (Christianity) A person who carries a cross in a Christian religious procession.
   • 1823, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 18, in Quentin Durward:

     He was at the head of a splendid train of religious, civil and military men, mingled together, or, as the old ballad maker expresses it,
     "With many a cross bearer before,
     And many a spear behind."

   • 1942 May 4, “Religion: Canterbury Pilgrim”, in Time, retrieved 28 October 2015:

     Behind the verger walked a cross-bearer, the Canterbury choristers and seven decrepit beadsmen. Behind the decrepit beadsmen came a long array of Canterbury canons, chaplains and dignitaries in all their robes, followed by pages carrying the maces of Canterbury and York and the cross of Canterbury.

   • 2014 April 18, Andrew Bloss, “Crucifixion re-enacted in Croydon on Good Friday”, in Your Local Guardian, UK, retrieved 28 October 2015:

     There were three main processions which were led by a cross bearer.

• crucifer

• book-bearer

• “cross bearer”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.