Sts. Timothy & Titus

Two young men whom Paul calls his "true sons in the faith." Timothy, of mixed Greek and Jewish parentage, became bishop of Ephesus; Titus, a Greek convert, became bishop of Crete. Three of the New Testament letters — two to Timothy, one to Titus — are addressed to them, and form Paul's testament to a second generation of pastors. Both, by tradition, were martyred for the faith.

Timothy joined Paul during the apostle's second missionary journey and became his most constant companion, co-authoring six of Paul's epistles. He was young enough that Paul had to remind the Corinthians not to despise his youth, yet trusted enough to be sent as Paul's envoy to the most troubled churches. Titus, meanwhile, proved himself a skilled mediator — Paul dispatched him to Corinth to resolve a bitter conflict and to Crete to set the young Church in order.

The pastoral letters addressed to them are among the last words of Paul, written from prison as he sensed the end approaching. They contain the famous charge to Timothy: "Guard what has been entrusted to you," and the tender farewell, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race." Tradition holds that Timothy was stoned to death at Ephesus for opposing a pagan festival, and that Titus died peacefully in Crete at an advanced age, having shepherded his island flock to the end.