(ABOUT 105.)
[S. Titus is commemorated on this day in the Roman, and all the
Latin Martyrologies. But the Greeks observe the feast of S. Titus
on August 25th. Much of his history can be gathered from the first
and second epistles of S. Paul to the Corinthians, and from his
epistle to S. Titus; also from the Greek Menologium, and his life,
written by Zenas, the lawyer, in the Menaea; and that by Peter de
Natalibus, compiled from Greek sources.]
Saint Titus was born of Gentile parents, being descended from the
ancient royal family of Crete.[18] He was a favourite companion of S.
Paul, who calls him his son in Christ. His virtue gained him the
particular esteem of this Apostle; for we find him employed as secretary
and interpreter by S. Paul; and the Apostle styles him his brother.[19]
On one occasion, when much depressed, he was consoled by the presence of
Titus: "God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by
the coming of Titus;"[20] and he testified, on another occasion, that he
found no rest in his spirit, because at Troas he had not met Titus.[21]
In the year 51, Titus accompanied S. Paul to the Council that was held
at Jerusalem, on the subject of the Mosaic rites. Though the Apostle had
consented to the circumcision of Timothy, in order to render his
ministry more acceptable among the Jews, he would not allow the same in
the case of Titus, apprehensive of giving thereby a sanction to the
faction which held to the necessity of combining the rites of the Law
with the Sacraments of the Gospel.
Towards the close of the year 56, S. Paul sent Titus from Ephesus to
Corinth, with full commission to remedy several subjects of scandal, and
to allay the dissensions in that Church. He was there received with
great respect, and was satisfied with the penance and submission of the
offenders; but could not be prevailed upon to accept from them any
present, not even so much as his own maintenance. His love for that
Church was very great, and at the request of the Corinthians, he
interceded with S. Paul for the pardon of the incestuous man whom he had
excommunicated. He was sent the same year by the Apostle, a second time,
to Corinth, to bring the alms of that Church to Jerusalem, for the
relief of the necessity of the poor Christians there. All these
particulars we learn from S. Paul's two epistles to the Corinthians.
S. Paul, after his first imprisonment, returning from Rome into the
East, made some stay in the island of Crete, of which Rustilius, the
governor, was married to the sister of S. Titus. He consecrated his
beloved disciple, Titus, to be bishop of that island, and left him there
to finish the work he had begun.[22] "We may form a judgment," says S.
Chrysostom, "from the importance of the charge, how great was the esteem
of S. Paul for his disciple."[23] But the Apostle, on his return into
Europe the year after, finding the loss of such a companion too
material, ordered him to meet him at Nicopolis, in Epirus, where he
intended to pass the winter, as soon as Artemas or Tychicus, whom the
Apostle was about to send to him, to take the place of the bishop during
his absence, should arrive.[24] And when he came, he bade him assist
Zenas, the lawyer, and Apollos on their journey.[25] From this Zenas we
have certain incidents of the life of S. Titus, which have been
preserved in a fragmentary condition in the Greek Menaea.
Zenas relates the conversion of S. Titus thus:--Titus, living in the
island of Crete, was learned in Greek literature, having been studious
in youth. But the dreams of the poets and philosophers did not satisfy
the inward craving of his soul after truth. One day, when twenty years
old, he heard a voice say to him, "Titus, depart hence and save thy
soul, for the learning of the Greeks will not profit thee unto
salvation." Wondering in himself what this could mean, he was bidden by
the same voice to take up a Hebrew volume that he had long disregarded,
and open it. And the book was the Prophet Isaiah, and the place of the
Scriptures that his eye rested on was this, "Keep silence before me, O
islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near;
then let them speak,"[26] and what follows.
He seems to have read on much of that chapter, with its promise to the
isles, and to have applied to himself the words, "Thou whom I have taken
from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof,
and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not
cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for
I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will
uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.... When the poor
and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for
thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake
them."[27] These were words very different from those of the poets of
Greece, and gave an idea of God quite other from that formed by Homer,
in whose writings he had found delight; so Titus left his Greek studies
and his native island, and sought Jerusalem, the chief city of that
people of whom the prophet spake such great things. And when he was
there he saw Jesus, and heard Him teach. Perhaps he was one of those
Greeks whom S. Andrew brought to Christ.[28] He believed, and was of the
number of the first disciples. He remained at Jerusalem after the
ascension and the descent of the Holy Ghost. After he joined S. Paul, he
accompanied him in most of his journeys. In 65, S. Paul sent him to
preach the Word of God in Dalmatia, after he had visited him in
Nicopolis;[29] but he probably was there for no great length of time,
though the Dalmatians honour him as their Apostle.
Peter de Natalibus relates that when death approached, he saw angels
coming from heaven in a glorious train to fetch his soul, and that his
face lit up with joy at their approach, and shone with supernatural
splendour. He committed his people to God in long and earnest prayer,
and then yielded up his spirit in peace to Christ his Saviour.
The body of S. Titus was kept, with great veneration, in the Cathedral
of Gortyna; but that city having been ruined by the Saracens, in 823,
the metropolitan see was transferred to Candia, seventeen miles from the
ancient Gortyna; there the head of S. Titus was preserved, till it was
carried off by the Venetians, and is now among the sacred treasures of
S. Mark's, at Venice.
Patron of Candia, or Crete.