E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
The fourteen stations of the Catholic Church. These are generally called Stations of the Cross, and the whole series is known as the via Calvaria or via Crucis. Each station represents some item in the passage of Jesus from the Judgment Hall to Calvary, and at each station the faithful are expected to kneel and offer up a prayer in memory of the event represented by the fresco, picture, or otherwise. They are as follows:
(1) Jesus is condemned to death.
(2) Jesus is made to bear His cross.
(3) Jesus falls the first time under His cross.
(4) Jesus meets His afflicted mother.
(5) Simon the Cyrenean helps Jesus to carry His cross.