A layman of first-century Rome, described in the ancient register as chosen in the Lord, possibly linked to the Rufus greeted by Saint Paul.

Saint Rufus was a lay Christian in Rome whose death is tentatively placed around the year 90, within a generation of the apostles themselves. The ancient description preserved of him, that he was chosen in the Lord, echoes the language Saint Paul uses in his Letter to the Romans to greet a disciple named Rufus, and some tradition has long identified the two as the same person, possibly the son of Simon of Cyrene who carried Christ’s cross. No further certain detail of his life has survived beyond this description and his approximate era.

Quick Facts

• Died: c. 90 (uncertain), Rome, Italy
• Role: Layman
• Venerated as: Disciple described as “chosen in the Lord”

Who Was Saint Rufus (Rome, 90)?

Saint Rufus is recorded as a lay believer in Rome whose life is placed uncertainly around the year 90, and whose surviving identity summary describes him with a phrase, chosen in the Lord, that closely parallels Saint Paul’s greeting to a disciple named Rufus at the close of his Letter to the Romans. Long-standing Christian tradition has connected this New Testament figure to a son of Simon of Cyrene, the man compelled to carry Christ’s cross, though this identification rests on tradition rather than documented certainty, and the controlled record here offers no further confirmation of it.

Historical Setting

The Roman Christian community of the late first century was still a young and relatively small body, gathered in house churches and closely tied to the memory of the apostles who had founded or visited it. A believer commended by name in an apostolic letter, as Paul commends Rufus in Romans, would have held a place of real honor and trust within that early community, whatever the exact scope of his later ministry.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Rufus (Rome, 90)

Rufus is remembered chiefly for the personal commendation attached to his name, a mark of esteem within the apostolic circle rather than a record of heroic deeds. If the traditional identification is correct, his memory carries the additional weight of family connection to Simon of Cyrene, linking him directly to the events of Christ’s own passion.

Canonization and Feast Day

No formal canonization process is recorded for Saint Rufus. His veneration rests on ancient, immemorial cult received through the Church’s earliest liturgical memory of the first Roman Christians, long before any centralized canonization process existed.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Rufus’s memory, anchored in a single phrase of personal commendation, shows how much weight a brief word of recognition can carry across centuries. His example encourages believers to value quiet, faithful participation in the life of the Church, the kind of steady trustworthiness that earns notice even without dramatic achievement.

A Prayer to Saint Rufus

Saint Rufus, chosen in the Lord, you were known and trusted among the earliest disciples of Rome. Help us to live so faithfully that our own quiet service might likewise be found worthy of Christ’s approval. Amen.

Sources

• Roman Martyrology
• Romans 16:13, cited per longstanding Christian tradition
• New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, entry on Rufus