BRUYNE, DONATIEN de. — Benedictine philologist (Latin Bible) and patrologist, born at Neuve-Eglise (West Flanders, Belgium) on 7 October 1871, died at Bruges on 5 August 1935. He took a degree in theology at Louvain under A. Van Hoonacker (1899), and taught Sacred Scripture at the Major Seminary of Bruges (1901–1902); he then entered (1903) the Benedictine abbey of Maredsous. He soon established himself through his writings in the attention of scholars and “made an epoch” (A. von Harnack). Decisive was his appointment to the Pontifical Commission for the revision of the Vulgate (1907), for which he supplied excellent preparatory studies, especially concerning the didactic books of the Old Testament. From 1921 to 1924 he directed the Revue bénédictine, in which he published about 90 articles (listed in vol. 55 [1943–44], pp. 16–19).
Particularly noteworthy are his studies on biblical prologues of Marcionite and anti-Marcionite origin (1907 and 1928), on the “Vetus Latina” of the Song of Songs (1926), and on the Gallican and Roman Psalters (1929–30). Always in search of “membra disiecta,” he became an authority on the “Vetus Latina,” the Vulgate, patrology (especially concerning s. Girolamo and s. Agostino), and textual criticism. He did not always share H. Quentin’s principles of textual criticism, nor did he sympathize with his “règle de fer.” His hypotheses, often bold, prompted useful discussions.
His contributions to various periodicals were numerous (Collationes Brugenses, Revue bénédictine, Revue biblique, Analecta hollandiana, Journal of Theological Studies, Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft). Among his works, the following deserve particular mention: Les fragments de Freising (épîtres de s. Paul et épîtres catholiques) (Rome 1921); S. Augustin reviseur de la Bible, in Miscellanea Agostiniana, II, there 1931, pp. 512–606; Les anciennes traductions latines des Machabies (Maredsous 1932).