Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops

Timothy and Titus were two of Paul’s closest companions, to whom three letters of the New Testament are addressed. Timothy came from Lystra in Asia Minor, the son of a Jewish mother, Eunice, and a Greek father; his grandmother Lois is also named. He joined Paul on his second journey, is named as co-author of six letters and, by tradition, became the first bishop of Ephesus, where he is said to have been killed by a crowd about 97.

Titus was a Greek whom Paul brought to the meeting in Jerusalem as an uncircumcised believer. He carried Paul’s difficult letters to Corinth and was left to organize the Church in Crete, where tradition says he died as its bishop in old age. The Roman calendar has kept them together, the day after Paul’s conversion, since 1969.