SIMON OF CYRENE. - A Jew originally from Cyrene (v.), a city of the Pentapolis of Libya, where a flourishing Jewish colony was in continuous relations with Jerusalem (Flavius Josephus, Antiq. Jud., XIV, 7, 2; XVI, 6, 1).

He relieved Jesus of the weight of the Cross on the way to Calvary: he was returning from his field, when he was stopped by the centurion (a personal "requisition") and forced to carry the Cross in place of Jesus, exhausted in strength (Mk. 15:21; Mt. 27:32; Lk. 23:26).

The episode is consecrated by the piety of the faithful in the Fifth Station of the Way of the Cross, its location being assigned, since the 13th century, to the intersection of the road to Josaphat with that of the valley of the Tyropoeon, and later to the exit of the Judgment Gate. It is known from Mk. 15:21 that S. was "the father of Alexander and Rufus": the former is probably the one mentioned in Acts 19:33, and Rufus (v.) was perhaps that distinguished person of the Christian community of Rome, whose mother — that is, on this hypothesis, the wife of S. — is called by St. Paul his own "mother" (Rom. 16:13).

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: L. Fonck, La patria del Cireneo, in Civ. Catt., 1912, 1, pp. 513-28, 641-50; L. C. Fillion, Vita di N. S. Gesù Cristo, trad.

SIMON OF CYRENE - S. C. helps Jesus carry the Cross. Painting by A. Allori (16th cent.) - Rome, Doria Gallery.(phot. Alinari)

it., III, Turin 1934, p. 442 ff.; G. Ricciotti, Vita di Gesù Cristo, Milan 1940, pp. 139 ff., 734.

Gaetano Stano

@incollection{ec11_simone_il_cireneo, author = {Stano, Gaetano}, title = {Simone Il Cireneo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {634--635}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/simone-il-cireneo} }

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Simon of Cyrene

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