Apostle Titus

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In the Christian New Testament, Titus, (a common Roman name, meaning honourable) was a companion of Paul of Tarsus, mentioned in several of Paul's epistles, including the Epistle to Titus. Titus was with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch and accompanied them to the Council of Jerusalem (Galatians 2:1-3; Acts 15:2), although his name nowhere occurs in the Acts of the Apostles.

He appears to have been a Gentile – for Paul sternly refused to have him circumcised, perhaps because Paul believed his gospel freed believers from the requirements of the Mosaic Law – and to have been chiefly engaged in ministering to Gentiles. At a later period, Paul's Epistles place him with Paul and Timothy at Ephesus, whence he was sent by Paul to Corinth for the purpose of getting the contributions of the church there in behalf of the poor Christians at Jerusalem sent forward (2 Corinthians 8:6; 12:18). He rejoined the apostle when he was in Macedonia, and cheered him with the tidings he brought from Corinth (7:6-15). After this his name is not mentioned till after Paul's first imprisonment, when we find him engaged in the organization of the church in Crete, where the apostle had left him for this purpose (Titus 1:5). The last notice of him is in 2 Timothy 4:10, where he appears with Paul at Rome during his second imprisonment. From Rome he was sent into Dalmatia, no doubt on some important missionary errand. The New Testament does not record his death.

According to church tradition, Paul ordained Titus Bishop of Gortyn in Crete. He died in AD 107 at about 95 years of age. His feast day was observed on February 6 in the Traditional Catholic Calendar, but later transferred to January 26. He is still commemorated on the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on January 26 with Timothy and Silas.