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Brian Bagley wrote:

Hi, guys —

First, your team and site visitors may be interested in an apostolate I work on with my colleague, Mike Humphrey. It's an apostolate dedicated to praying for the Holy, Saved Souls in Purgatory which we have been running for 14 years at HelpersOfTheHolySouls.com. Some also may be interested in our Free Purgatory Prayer Program.

Now to my question. I have been meditating about my prayer life and thinking about praying to Simon of Cyrene who was forced to help Jesus carry His Cross. This event is mentioned in the Scriptures in Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21, and Luke 23:26. We celebrate it in the Church in the Stations of the Cross. (See the Fifth Station)

  • Before I consider this further, I was wondering if Simon of Cyrene had any level of veneration within the Catholic Church?

Any help would be appreciated.

Brian

  { Does Simon of Cyrene in Matthew 27:32 have any level of veneration within the Catholic Church? }

Mike speaking for the AAC team replied:

Hi, Bags —

After reviewing these web pages and talking with my colleagues, we came to the following consensus:

If you view the sidebar on the Wikipedia web page, you will note that he is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and (the Church of the East: also known as the Eastern Rite Catholic Church).

Under Church tradition it stated:

Church tradition

One Catholic tradition holds that he was consecrated as the first bishop of the current Archdiocese of Avignon. Another holds that he was martyred by crucifixion in 100 A.D., [though both these statements ask for more supporting references].

Simon of Cyrene is not included in the Old and Revised Roman Martyrology of the Catholic Church.

So he is not venerated as a saint in the Roman Rite but is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Rite Catholic Church.

That said, whether he is venerated as a saint, or not, there is no reason why you shouldn't pray to Simon of Cyrene to help you carry your Earthly cross.

Since no man can pass ultimate judgment on any other man or woman, except the Man, Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5), who is one with the Father, there is no reason you can't pray to any Faithful Departed Loved one for help and aid.

I spiritually ask both my earthly father (Stephen) and earthly mother (Dorothy) — who passed to their particular judgments about 10 years ago — for their help on an array of issues on a regular basis.

This is what the Communion of Saints is all about.

It's not underminding the glory and saving power of Jesus; no, it is manifesting His Holy Power in his brothers and sisters: us, who partake in His Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4 RSV-CE)

Mike

Please report any and all typos or grammatical errors.
Suggestions for this web page and the web site can be sent to Mike Humphrey
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