cross-bearer

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cru•ci•fer

(ˈkru sə fər)

n.

1. a person who carries a cross, as in ecclesiastical processions.

2. a cruciferous plant.

[1565–75; < Late Latin, = Latin cruci-, s. of crux cross + -fer -fer]

References in classic literature ?

But her glance rested on the one who marched at the head, immediately after the cross-bearer.

View in context

Then the priest and a cross-bearer came out and led the whole crowd in a really joyous procession into the church, with the organ thundering welcome.

The sacrament of our sexuality: the Mass is an offering, and they offer themselves to God to increase the love in the world, and even to create life

The only one at the actual murder scene, Edward Grim, was neither a monk nor a man of letters but a visiting cleric who was serving as an ad hoc cross-bearer to the archbishop when the assassins confronted him, and who nearly lost an arm attempting to protect the prelate.