Simon of Cyrene
· Simon of Cyrene was an African Jew and the father of Alexander and Rufus. It is thought that he was in Jerusalem with his sons for the Passover festival.
· He was one of the bystanders along the path the Roman guards led Jesus to be crucified.
· Jesus, who had been brutally beaten and injured by the Roman soldiers, was forced to carry his own cross to the site of his crucifixion. Along the way, Jesus stumbled and fell. According to the Gospels of Mark and Luke, Simon of Cyrene was forced by the Roman guards to carry the cross of Jesus the rest of the way to the crucifixion site of Golgotha.
· Simon of Cyrene assisting Jesus is the Fifth Station of the Cross. The Stations of the Cross are a Catholic devotion created to honor the Passion and death of Jesus Christ. Most images of Simon of Cyrene do not depict him as a man of African decent.
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