cross-bearer

[kraws-bair-er, kros-]

noun

a person who carries or holds a cross, especially in a religious procession.

Origin of cross-bearer

First recorded in 1530–40; cross + bearer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cross-bearer

Historical Examples of cross-bearer

But her glance rested on the one who marched at the head, immediately after the cross-bearer.
Notre-Dame de Paris
Victor Hugo
It is hard to make out how anybody can hope to master a revelation of a cross-bearing God without himself being a cross-bearer.
Understanding the Scriptures
Francis McConnell
Every recruit wore a red cross, and was called croisé,--cross-bearer; whence the name of the holy war.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume V
John Lord
Before them went the cross-bearer, lifting high his simple wooden emblem.
The Christmas Angel
Abbie Farwell Brown
But the clamour of the multitude soon drowned the De Profundis of the cross-bearer.
History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Vol 2
J. H. Merle D'Aubign