RUFINUS

RUFINUS

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where he saw settlements of monks like those 1which he had seen in Egypt ( Eccles. Hist. ii. 8).It is possible that he may have gone there tovisit some of the exiles from Egypt before hisestablishment at Olivet. It is also recorded byPalladius, that he and Melania were the meansof restoring to the communion of the churchfour hundred schismatic monks, who had sepa-rated themselves on account of Paulinus; andthis statement has very naturally been supposedto refer to some extension to Jerusalem of thedisputes at Antioch between the parties of therival bishops, Meletius and Paulinus. ButWastel, followed by Fontanini ( Vit. Ruf. I.iv. 2), has pointed out that it was more likelyto refer to the schism at Jerusalem, arising fromthe ordination of Paulinian, Jerome’s brother,the healing of which is commonly attributed toMelania. To that dispute and its consequenceswe must now turn.

It will not be necessary to go over again theground covered by the articles on John, bishopof Jerusalem, and Hieronymus (sections on Johnand Rufinus), except so far as to add personaldetails about Rufinus. Aterbius, who firststirred up the dispute, fixed upon Rufinus as anOrigenist, and so “ barked against him ” (Jer.Ap. iii. 33), that Rufinus drove him away, if wemay trust Jerome, with the threat of a cudgelling.He also (ibid.) began to “ bark ” against Jeromebecause of his intimacy with Rufinus; but he foundJerome more pliable ; and the willingness ofJerome to submit to the “Ketzermacher ” (to usea German term) seemed to condemn Rufinus, andthus made a rift between the two friends whichrapidly widened. When, the next year, Epi-phanius came to Jerusalem, Rufinus was presentat all the scenes so vividly described by Jerome(see Epiph. to John in Jerome, Ep. i. 2). Thebishop of Salamis giive him the kiss of peace,and joined with him and bishop John in prayer(Jer. Ap. iii. 23). But when the dissensionbetween the two bishops arose, Rufinus was atJohn’s right hand,—the leader of the clergywho supported their bishop. Jerome describestheir conduct on the occasion (chorus tuus caninorictu naribusque contractis, Cont. J. Hieros. 11)in words which he afterwards applies to Rufinuspersonally (Ep. exxv. 18; Ep. lvii. 3); and theabusive expressions which he says they usedabout Epiphanius (delirus senex) he quotes asused by Rufinus (Apol. iii. 23). And Epiphaniusin his letter of warning to John mentionsRufinus as the chief of John’s supporters (Teautem et ornnes fratres qui tecum sunt et maximbRufinum Presbyterum, Jer. Ep. li. 6). We knowthat Jerome accused Rufinus of stealing histranslation of this letter; and the use which hemade of the translation, and his comments uponit, elicited Jerome’s letter (57) to Pammachiuson the best method of translation. Jerome alsoaccuses Rufinus (Apol. iii. 18) of having pre-vented Isidore from giving him the letters ofTheophilus, and thus rendering abortive themission of Isidore ; and it is possible that it wasto Rufinus (“ ducem exercitus sui ” Cont. Joan.Hieros, 37) that Isidore wrote, before comingto Jerusalem, the letter which fell into thehands of Jerome’s friend Vincentius, and whichshowed a strong prejudice against the monksof Bethlehem. We do not know what furtherpart Rufinus took in the controversy between

John and Jerome. ]f, however, the words ofPalladius, above quoted, are to be interpreted ofthis controversy, we may infer that he showeda willingness at least to bring about a recon-ciliation. He himself was for the time fullyreconciled to Jerome, who speaks frequently oftheir “ reconciliatas amicitias” (Ep. lxxxi 1*Apol. iii. 33). They met (probably with manyfriends on both sides) at a solemn CommunionService in the Church of the Resurrection; theyjoined hands in token of a renewal of friendship*and, on Rufinus’s setting out for Italy withMelania, Jerome accompanied him some littleway on his journey, perhaps as far as Joppa.They were once more friends, as in their youth!

Italy , 397-409.—The return of Melania toItaly had for its object the promotion of asceticpractices in her own family. Rufinus, whomPaulinus speaks of as being to her “in spiritalivia, comitem,” returned also, as he had originallygone, in her company. His mother was stillliving, and he wished to see his relations andhis Christian friends again (Jer. Ixxxi. 1;Apol. ii. 2). They made the voyage in twentydays, and arrived at Naples in the spring of 397,Thence they went to visit Paulinus at Nola,all the nobles of those parts and their retinuesaccompanying them in a kind of triumph (Pau-linus, Ep. xxix. 12). Melania, who was con-nected, probably, by ties of property with Cam-pania, since Palladius speaks of her successorsPinianus and Melania living there (Hist. Laus.119), stayed with Paulinus some time, and thenwent on to Rome, where her son Publicola andhis wife Albina and her granddaughter Melaniawith her husband Pinianus were living. Rufinuswent to the monastery of Pinetum near Terra-cina, of which his friend Ursacius or Urseius wasthe abbat, and there he stayed probably for a year,from the early spring of 397 till after Lent, 398.His intention had been to go direct to Rome,and, having passed on to his native country,to return to the East (Paulinus, Ep. 46, 47, inthe first of which the expression “ Romam petijudicastis ” shows, that, when these letters werewritten, Rufinus was between Nola and Rome,and on his way northwards). But he wasdetained, either by the urgency of his friends orthe delay of Melania.

He had brought with him many works of theEastern Church writers, which were but littleknown in Italy; and his friends were eager toknow their contents. Rufinus, having usedthe Greek language more than the Latin forsome twenty-five years, at first declared his in-competence ; “ Ad Latinum sermonem tricennalijam pene incuria torpuisse.” (Apol. i. 1L)But by degrees he accepted the task, which, infact, occupied almost all the remainder of hislife. He began with the Rule of Basil, whichUrseius desired to have for the use of his monks.Next, probably, he translated the Recognitionsof Clement [Clementine Literaturk]. Hehad left the Greek MS. of this book withPaulinus, begging him to translate it and toimprove his knowledge of Greek for the purpose.But Paulinus’s first attempts were found to con-tain so many mistakes, that he despaired, occu-pied as he was, of making progress, and urgedRufinus to undertake the task. He at thesame time begged for his assistance in the inter-pretation of the blessing upon Judah in Gen.