Timothy was Saint Paul’s beloved disciple. He may have been converted by Paul himself during the apostle’s first missionary journey. Timothy was the son of a pagan father and a Jewish mother, Eunice, who had become a Christian. The Christian community of Lystra recommended Timothy to Paul, and Paul took him as a companion on his second and third journeys. To make his mission among the Jews easier, Paul had him circumcised.
Paul entrusted Timothy several times with important responsibilities in the communities of Thessalonica, Macedonia, and Corinth. The apostle addressed at least two letters to him, which are now part of the New Testament. Timothy was close to Paul during his first imprisonment. Later, we find him in Ephesus, exercising the ministry of a bishop (in the sense that term could be used in those early times). When Paul was imprisoned a second time, he asked Timothy to come to Rome. What followed in Timothy’s life belongs more to legend than to history. It is not unlikely that he died in Ephesus, but the account of his violent death comes from spurious Acts attributed to Polycrates. In truth, there is no clear evidence that Timothy died a martyr.
Titus, another great collaborator of Paul, came from a pagan family. Paul probably brought him to Christ during his first missionary journey. Titus accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, where Paul strongly resisted the demand that this disciple of pagan background should be circumcised. Titus later served as mediator between Paul and the Corinthians, restoring peace between them. In the letter Paul addressed to him, we find Titus established in Crete. Paul also asked him to meet him in Nicopolis of Epirus, and perhaps from there sent him on mission to Dalmatia, where he has been specially venerated. Tradition holds that Titus died in Crete at an advanced age.
We do not know the exact day of death of Paul’s two great disciples. Their cult entered the Roman liturgy only at a later time. Timothy’s feast was first celebrated on January 24, the vigil of the Conversion of Saint Paul. Titus’ feast originally fell on January 4, but Pope Pius IX moved it to February 6 to give it greater prominence. The present calendar has preferred to unite both disciples in a single memorial, placing it on January 26, the day after the Conversion of the Apostle, since January 24 is now the memorial of Saint Francis de Sales.
