stabat mater Meaning, Definition & Usage

Sta"bat Ma"ter

Etymology

L., the mother was standing.

Definitions

1. A celebrated Latin hymn, beginning with these words, commemorating the sorrows of the mother of our Lord at the foot of the cross. It is read in the Mass of the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, and is sung by Catholics when making "the way of the cross" (Via Crucis). See Station, 7 (c).