St. Titus

Gentile Convert at the Jerusalem Council

St. Titus was a Gentile convert to Christianity and one of St. Paul's closest and most capable fellow workers. Paul calls him 'my true child in our common faith,' and brought him to Jerusalem at the time of the apostolic council, where Titus — a Greek, uncircumcised — stood as a living test case for the Gospel's freedom from the Mosaic law. That the council did not require his circumcision was, for Paul, a vindication of the mission to the Gentiles.

Peacemaker in Corinth

Titus appears in the New Testament above all as a man for difficult assignments. Paul sent him to Corinth during the most painful period of his relations with that community, and Titus's tact and firmness helped bring about reconciliation; Paul writes of the comfort he felt at Titus's arrival with good news. He was afterward entrusted with organizing the collection for the poor Christians of Jerusalem.

Organizing the Church on Crete

The New Testament letter addressed to him finds Titus on the island of Crete, where Paul had left him to 'put in order what remained to be done' — appointing presbyters in every town, teaching sound doctrine, and dealing patiently with a famously unruly population. For this reason tradition honors him as the first bishop of Crete, and Eusebius records him as such.

Death, Relics, and Patron of Crete

According to tradition, Titus governed the Church of Crete into old age and died peacefully there, in the later first century. His memory has always been especially dear to the Cretan church: his relics were venerated at Gortyna and later at Heraklion, and his skull, long kept in Venice, was returned in 1966 to the Church of St. Titus in Heraklion, where it remains. He shares a feast with St. Timothy on January 26, the day after the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, and he is venerated as the patron of Crete.

Significance

Titus was a living sign that the Gospel belongs to every nation, and Paul trusted him with some of the hardest tasks of the early mission. His tact in Corinth and his patient work on Crete show the gifts of a faithful pastor who brings peace and order to young communities. Bishops, pastors, and the people of Crete still find in him a model of steady service to Christ.