|
Commemorated on August 25
The Disciple from
the 70 Titus was a native of the island of Crete, the son of an illustrious
pagan. In his youthful years he studied attentively at Hellenistic philosophy
and the ancient poets. Preoccupied by the sciences, Titus led a virtuous life,
not devoting himself to the vices and passions characteristic of the majority
of pagans. He preserved his virginity, as the Priest-martyr Ignatios the
God-bearer (comm. 20 December) testified about him. For such a manner of life
the Lord did not leave him without His help. At age twenty in a dream Saint
Titus heard a voice, suggesting to him to abandon the Hellenistic wisdom, not
providing salvation for his soul, but rather to seek out that which would save
him. After this dream Saint Titus waited still another year, since it was not
actually like a command, but it guided him to familiarise himself with the
teachings of the prophets of God. The first that he happened to read was the
Book of the Prophet Isaiah. Having opened it to the 47th Chapter, he was struck
by the words, speaking as it were about his own spiritual condition.
When news reached
Crete about the appearance in Palestine of a Great Prophet, and about the great
miracles worked by Him, the governor of the island of Crete, an uncle of Titus
by birth, sent him there. This Prophet was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
incarnated of the Most Holy Virgin Mary and having come into the world for the
redemption of the race of mankind from its oppression of the original sin. At
Jerusalem Saint Titus beheld the Lord; he heard His preaching and believed in
Him. He was a witness of the suffering on the Cross and death of the Saviour,
His glorious Resurrection and Ascent to Heaven. On the day of Pentecost the
future disciple heard, standing in the crowd, how the 12 Apostles, – after the
descent upon them of the Holy Spirit, spoke in various languages among which
was the Cretan language (Acts 2: 11). Saint Titus accepted Baptism from the
Apostle Paul and became his closest disciple. He accompanied the Apostle Paul
on his missionary journeys, time and again he fulfilled entrusted tasks, was
involved in the establishing of new churches, and was with him in Jerusalem.
Saint Titus was numbered among the 70 Disciples and was ordained by the Apostle
Paul as bishop of Crete. Around the year 65, not long before the second
imprisonment, the Apostle Paul dispatched a pastoral epistle to his selected
one (Tit. 1-3). When the Apostle Paul was taken like a criminal to Rome to
stand trial before Caesar, Saint Titus for a time left his flock in Crete and
went to Rome to be of service to his spiritual father. After the death by
martyrdom of the Apostle Paul, the Disciple Titus returned to the chief city of
Crete – Gortyn.
The Disciple Titus
peacefully guided his flock and toiled at enlightening the pagans with the
light of faith in Christ. He was granted by the Lord the gift of wonderworking.
During a time of one of the pagan feasts in honour of the goddess Diana, Titus
preached to a gathered crowd of pagans. When he saw, that they would not listen
to him, he prayed to the Lord, so that the Lord Himself would show to the
mistaken people the non-entity of idols. By the prayer of the Disciple Titus,
the idol of Diana fell down and shattered before the eyes of all. Another time
the Disciple Titus prayed, that the Lord would not permit the completion of a
temple under construction raised up to Zeus, and it collapsed. By such miracles
the Disciple Titus brought many to faith in Christ. Having enlightened with the
light of faith the surrounding regions, the Disciple Titus died peacefully in
the extreme old age of 97. At death his face shone like the sun.
© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.
|
Close window |