Saint Simon of Cyrene Religious Medal

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Simon of Cyrene ( "Hearkening; listening", Standard Hebrew imon, Tiberian Hebrew imn) was the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three Synoptic Gospels. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. His home town, Cyrene, Libya, was located in northern Africa. Cyrene, a Greek colony, also had a Jewish community where 100,000 Judean Jews had been forced to settle during the reign of Ptolemy Soter (323285 BC) and was an early center of Christianity. Cyrene was supposedly the destination of many "Sicari" dagger men who fled the Roman legions at the time of the Jewish Revolt. This was later to precipitate further Jewish insurrection in the area in the reign of Hadrian and Trajan. The Cyrenian Jews had a synagogue in Jerusalem, where many went for annual feasts. Tradition states his sons Rufus and Alexander became missionaries; the inclusion of their names in Mark 15:21 may suggest that they were of some standing in the Early Christian community at Rome. It has also been suggested that the Rufus mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:13 is the son of Simon of Cyrene. Some also link Simon himself with the "men of Cyrene" who preached the Gospel to the Greeks in Acts 11:20. On the other hand, Simon's name does not prove he was Jewish, and Alexander and Rufus were both common names and may have referred to others. Simon's act of carrying the cross for Jesus is the fifth or seventh of the Stations of the Cross. Some interpret the passage as indicating that Simon was chosen because he may have shown sympathy with Jesus. Others point out that the text itself says nothing, that he had no choice, and that there is no basis to consider the carrying of the cross an act of sympathetic generosity.