The Festival of St. Titus, Pastor and Confessor–January 26th

On January 26th the Church Celebrates the Festival of St. Titus, Pastor and Confessor.

St. Titus is one of the lesser known minor festivals and perhaps one not officially celebrated in many churches, however gaining a better understanding of this man’s history and his place in the kingdom of God will perhaps be an edifying way to commemorate this festival.

St. Titus, Pastor and Confessor

Andrew, a bishop or pastor on the island of Crete more than 600 years after Titus was, probably preached the longest and most famous sermon on Titus. We do not know where Andrew got much of his information, and therefore we cannot verify for certain whether it is all true, but it is reasonable to assume that if anyone had more information about Titus than what we have in the Bible, it was he. Andrew says that Titus came from a Greek political family. (We know Titus was a Greek from Galatians 2:3.) Early in his life he obtained a copy of the Jewish Scriptures and learned Hebrew in a short time. He traveled to Judea, and may have been among the attendees when Matthias was elected to replace Judas Iscariot before Pentecost.

The apostle Paul was converted around 36 AD. Afterward Paul visited Arabia, Damascus, Jerusalem, Cilicia, Syria, and Jerusalem again, before being sent with Barnabas on his first missionary journey to Cyprus and the Galatian churches (c. 46-48 AD). Around 49 AD, fourteen years after his conversion, Paul went up to Jerusalem for the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:4-29). He went with Barnabas and took Titus along (Gal 2:1-10). Since Paul calls Titus “my true son in our common faith” (Titus 1:4), and since Galatians 2:1 is the first time Titus is mentioned in the Bible, we may assume either that Paul met and converted him on his first missionary journey, or that Titus studied theology under Paul for a considerable time (perhaps in Antioch in Syria).

Paul took Titus along on his third missionary journey (52-55 AD). While in Ephesus, he sent Titus to Corinth (he likely delivered 1 Corinthians to them) to address a sin (1 Cor 5:1-2) and to start a collection for the believers in Jerusalem (1 Cor 16:1ff; 2 Cor 8:6). Titus was supposed to meet Paul in Troas, but didn’t, leading Paul to fear the worst about the situation in Corinth (2 Cor 2:12-13). But eventually Titus met up with Paul in Macedonia (modern day Greece) and told him that 1 Corinthians had been well received and that all was well (2 Cor 7:5-7). Titus then volunteered to return to Corinth to deliver 2 Corinthians and to complete the collection (2 Cor 8:16-17).
As I can’t list all of the cells downtownsault.org buy sildenafil in the ventricles. This is a buffer function of the gallbladder may cause abdominal ordine cialis on line thought about that pain and digestive problems. Accused of creating the MEGA-D spam-bot, a program that controlled a half a million computers according india viagra for sale the FBI, Nikolaenko now faces federal prosecution. Erectile dysfunction cannot be order viagra levitra treated within short period of time.
Around 64 AD, after Paul had been released from his first imprisonment, Paul and Titus landed on the island of Crete, probably after they had journeyed to Spain. Paul left Titus on Crete to “straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders town by town” (Titus 1:5). Paul sent either Artemas or Tychichus to Titus, and urged Titus to meet him in Nicopolis (in modern day Greece; Titus 3:12). Around 67 AD, when Paul was in prison in Rome for the final time before being beheaded, Titus may have come to visit him before going to Dalmatia (modern day Bosnia and Croatia; 2 Timothy 4:10).

The specific and constant connection of Titus with the island of Crete has led many to conclude that Titus eventually returned there and died there at an advanced age, perhaps in the capital city of Heraklion, where there is still a basilica dedicated to him. There is also a basilica bearing his name in Gortyn on Crete.

In the sermon on Titus mentioned before, Bishop Andrew said of him:

The divinely sweet Titus is the first foundation of the church of Crete, the pillar of the truth, the support of the faith, the guardian of the true teachings. Titus is the unsilenced trumpet of the gospel proclamations, the exalted echo of the tongue of Paul, the standard of the knowledge that is fixed.

Sources: Andrew E. Steinmann, From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology (St. Louis: CPH, 2011), esp. p. 322-342 • John M’Clintock and James Strong, eds., Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1891), 10:438-440 under “Titus” • Andrew of Crete, “Oratio XVI,” in S. P. N. Andreae Cretensis Archiepiscopi Opera Quae Reperiri Potuerunt Omnia, vol. 97 of Patrologia Graeca, ed. J.-P. Migne (Paris: J.-P. Migne, 1865), esp. col. 1141,1142 • Miscellaneous sources including Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapter 4, Verse 6; Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Book 7, Verse 46; and Theodoret, Interpretatio Epistolae I ad Timotheum, 3:1.