The history of the name of the Simon of Cyrene Corporation is inspired by a biblical character phone number in philippines According to the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, Simon of Cyrene or The Cyrenean, father of Alexander and Rufus, was the person in charge of helping Jesus carry the cross on the day of his crucifixion and death.
According to the Bible, Simon of Cyrene was an ordinary man, anonymous and an unexpected volunteer, which suited our founder in deciding on the name of the corporation. “Few people know Simon of Cyrene. He was a peasant who arrived in Jerusalem early on a Friday afternoon. As soon as he entered the city he came across a small procession of weeping women accompanying Christ carrying the cross.”
Juan Francisco Lecaros highlights his figure: “When Christ fell for the first time under the weight of the cross, a Roman soldier who saw Simon of Cyrene ordered him to help Jesus. The first reaction was to refuse or to slip away into the crowd. But then, for fear of contradicting the loud voice of the Roman soldier, he took the cross and stood behind Christ. At first, he was not much help. In fact, even though he was young and rested, Simon of Cyrene fell twice more with the cross on top of Jesus. Simon of Cyrene did nothing to prevent it. The third time, the wood hit the face of the one who was to be crucified and made him bleed. Then, he looked at Christ and decisively grabbed the cross with both hands to accompany him to Golgotha.”
Along the same lines, the Gospel of Luke says that “as they were leading him away, they seized a man named Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from his farm in Libya, and they put the cross on him to carry it behind Jesus” (Luke 23:26, Crucifixion and Death of Jesus).
When we look at his figure, we see that man who helped without knowing exactly who or what he was helping. The evangelical phrase, “they laid hands on a certain Simon of Cyrene,” has inspired us from the first minute of the corporation. Each one of us can be that person who is laid hands on at a given moment. In fact, this is what happens daily in our corporation: our search to be in the background following the mission of others; our desire that the community – every community – considers us as one more of its members; our attitude of listening and serving, we believe that it faithfully represents the Cyrenean. The highest aspiration that we have as a corporation is that each one of our collaborators, our volunteers, beneficiaries, clients and directors, can put their name in place of that certain Simon who lent his strength to help one Friday afternoon.
An anonymous figure, as was the case of Simon of Cyrene, allows the spirit of the corporation, with more than 25 years of experience and 100 collaborators throughout Chile, to help those who help build a more developed and inclusive society. “Our mission is to accompany organizations and people to achieve their goals, promoting good management and building links between different worlds.”