Rufus, Saints.—The present Roman Martyrology records ten saints of this name. Historical mention is made of the following: (1) On 19 April, a group of martyrs in Melitene in Armenia, one of whom bears the name of Rufus. These martyrs are mentioned already in the “Martyrologium Hieronymianum” (ed. De Rossi-Duchesne, 46). (2) On 1 August, Rufus, with several companions who, according to the most: reliable manuscripts of the “Martyrol. Hieronym." died at Tomi, the place being afterwards by mistake changed to Philadelphia (cf. Quentin, “Les martyrologes historiques", 337). (3) On 27 August, two martyrs named Rufus at Capua—one, whose name also appears as Rufinus in the “ Martyrol. Hieronym." (ed. cit., 111). The other is said to have suffered with a companion, Carponius, in the Diocletian persecution (ef. “ Bibliotheca hagiographica latina", II, 1070; Acta SS., VI August, 18-19). (4) On 25 September, several martyrs at Damascus, among them one named Rufus. (5) On 7 November, a St. Rufus, who is said to have been Bishop of Metz; his history, however, is. legendary. His name was inserted at a later date in an old manuscript of the “ Martyrol. Hieronym." (ed. cit., 140). In the ninth century his relics were transferred to Gau-Odernheim in Hesse, Diocese of Mainz. (6) On 12 November, Rufus, a supposed Bishop of Avignon, who is perhaps identical with Rufus, the disciple of Paul (21 November). Legend, without any historical proof, has made him the first Bishop of Avignon [cf. Duchesne, “Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule", I, 258; Duprat in “Mémoires de r Académie de Vaucluse" (1889), 373 sqq.; (1890), 1 sqq., 105 sqq.]. (7) On 21 November, Rufus the disciple of the Apostles, who lived at Rome and to whom St. Paul sent a greeting, as well as he did also to the mother of Rufus (Rom., xvi, 13). St. Marksays in his Gospel (xv, 21) that Simon of Cyrene was the father of Rufus, and as Mark wrote his Gospel for the Roman Christians, this Rufus is probably the same as the one to whom Paul sent a salutation [cf. Cornely, "Commentar. in Epist. ad Romanos" (Paris, 1896), 778 sq.. (8) On 28 November, a Roman martyr Rufus, probably identical with the Rufinianus who was buried in the Catacomb of Generosa on the Via Portuensis, and who is introduced in the legendary Acts of the martyrdom of St. Chrysogonus (cf. Allard, “ Histoire des persécutions”, IV, 371 sq.). (9) On 18 December, the holy martyrs Rufus and Zosimus, who were taken to Rome with St. Ignatius of Antioch and were put to death there for their unwavering confession ` of Christianity during the persecution of Trajan. St. Polycarp speaks of them in his letter to the Philippians (c. ix). J. P. Kirsch.
Ruinart, THIERRY (THÉODORE), church historian and theologian, b. at Reims 10 June, 1657; d. at the Abbey of Hautvillers near Reims, 27 September, 1709. After completing his classical studies he entered (2 October, 1674) the Maurist Congregation of the Benedictine- Order at the Abbey of SaintRemy at Reims which, in that era, produced in France a brilliant company of distinguished scholars. His seriousness, deep piety, and fine intellectual gifts soon made him known throughout his order, and Mabillon requested the superiors to give him Ruinart as a fellow-worker. Thus in 1682 he came to the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, near Paris, where Mabillon was staying and, under the guidance of this great investigator, became one of the most eminent church historians and critics of his time.
The first large, important work that Thierry Ruinart undertook was the publication of the Acts of the martyrs that he regarded as genuine: “Acta primorum martyrum sincera et selecta" (many editions; first ed. Paris, 1689; last ed., Ratisbon, 1859). Taken as a whole the collection is not surpassed even to-day, though individual documents are not regarded as genuine by the keener criticism of modern times. In the introduction he ably discussed the authorities for the history of the martyrs, the Christian persecutions, and in doing this refuted the opinion propounded by Dodwell (“ Oe paucitate martyrum", Oxford, 1684), that there were only a small number of martyrs in the early Church. A supplement to his work was published by Le Blant (“Les actes des martyrs", Paris, 1883, in “ Mémoires de institut de France", XXX). After the “Acta” he published the ”Historia persecutionis Vandalieze" of Victor of Vita, to which he added an exhaustive discussion of the persecution of the Catholics in Africa at the hands of the Vandals (Paris, 1694; Venice, 1732).
After this he edited the works of St. Gregory of Tours (S. Gregorii Florentii episcopi Turon. opera omnia) and the chronicle of Fredegar (Paris, 1699), with a comprehensive introduction and a large number of notes. With Mabillon he published volumes VIII and IX of the “Acta Sanctorum ord. S. Benedicti" (Paris, 1700-01). In this same period he prepared his ∗Apologie de la mission de Saint-Maur” (Paris, 1702) as a contribution to the history of the Benedictine Order in France. He published the treatise “Ecclesia Parisiensis vindicata" (Paris, 1706), in defence of Mabillon’s work, “De re diplomatica", which had been attacked by Bartholomew Germon. Mabillon had begun, but had not been able to complete, a new edition of the “De re diplomatica"; this edition was now issued by Ruinart, who published in connexion with it an “Abrégé de la vie de J. Mabillon” (Paris, 1709). At the same time he had undertaken the continuation of the “Annales ord. S. Benedicti" and carried it further by nearly completing the fifth volume.
While on a journey made during the year 1709, which he undertook to gather further material for this work, he was taken ill and died. The fifth volume, just mentioned, was edited (Paris, 1713) by Massuet after Ruinart's death. Several manuscripts left by Mabillon and Ruinart were edited by Thuillier (Ouvrages posthumes de Mabillon et Ruinart”, three volumes, Paris, 1724). Among these were three treatises by Ruinart: “Iter literarium in Alsatiam et Lotharingiam"; “De pallio archiepiscopau”; “Vita S. Urbani, pp. II". The letters of the distinguished scholar were edited by Valéry, “Correspondance inédite de Mabillon et de Montfaucon” (three volumes, Paris, 1846), by Jadart in his biography of Ruinart (see below), and by Gigas, “Lettres des Bénédictins de SaintMaur, 1652-1741" (three volumes, Copenhagen, 1892-93).
Massuer, Biog. de Ruinart in Annales ord. S. Benedict, V (Paris, 1713); JapaRT, Dom Th. Ruinart (Paris, 1886) ; BROGLIE, Mabillon et la société de Saint-Germain-des-Prés (2 vols., Paris, 1888); HumrER, Nomenclator, IV (3rd ed., Innsbruck, 1910), 821-4.
J. P. Kirsch.