Rufus

Two saints named Rufus are commemorated in September: the martyr Rufus on 8 September and Rufus, bishop of Thessalonica, on 9 September. Of the martyr, who is commemorated with Rufianus, Artemidorus and Severus, no account survives.

Holy Hierarch Rufus, bishop of Thessalonica, succeeded Saint Anysius (30 December) on the archiepiscopal throne. Pope Innocent I (402 to 417), by his letter of 17 June 412, formally established the vicariate of Thessalonica and defined the duties of the papal vicar, that is, of the bishop of Thessalonica. Two letters of Pope Boniface (418 to 422) were also addressed to Rufus: one in 419, on the election of Perigenes as bishop of Corinth, and another in 422, after news that a synod was being prepared to re-⁠examine Perigenes's election. Pope Celestine I (422 to 432) sent letters in 424 to the bishops of Illyricum urging them to submit to the papal vicar Rufus, which shows a crisis in the relations between the vicar and the bishops under him. Celestine's second letter to Rufus, of 11 August 430, informed him of the synod in the West that condemned the heresy of Nestorius.

Bishop Rufus was a close friend, ally and supporter of Saint Cyril of Alexandria in his struggle against Nestorianism. Two letters of Cyril are addressed to him, written warmly and with praise. For unknown reasons Rufus could not take part in the Third Ecumenical Council, held in 431 at Ephesus; Flavian of Philippi signed as his deputy. The year 434 must be taken as the year of his death, since by 435 Anastasius (16 July) already held the throne of Thessalonica. They are commemorated on 8 and 9 September, according to the calendar of the Church of Greece (new style).