A disciple and companion of St. Paul to whom the great saint addressed one of his letters. Paul referred to Titus as “my true child in our common faith”. Not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, he was noted in Galatians where Paul writes of journeying to Jerusalem with Barnabas, accompanied by Titus. He was then dispatched to Corinth, Greece, where he successfully reconciled the Christian community there with Paul, its founder. Titus was later left on the island of Crete to help organize the Church, although he soon went to Dalmatia, Croatia. According to Eusebius of Caesarea in the Ecclesiastical History, he served as the first bishop of Crete. He was buried in Cortyna (Gortyna), Crete; his head was later translated to Venice during the invasion of Crete by the Saracens in 832 and was enshrined in St. Mark’s, Venice, Italy.
The appointed Scripture readings for today are:
Acts 20:28-35
Titus 1:1-9
Luke 10:1-9
We pray:
Almighty God, You called Titus to the work of pastor and teacher. Make all shepherds of Your flock diligent in preaching Your holy Word so taht the whole world may know the immeasurable riches of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
January 26th, 2010 | 9:47 am | #1
Paul,
Today our reading is 2 Peter 2:9-22 and Mark 13:14-23. The the primary Saints remembered (this year) are The Monk Xenophontes, his spouse Maria and their sons Arkadios and John.
January 26th, 2010 | 12:20 pm | #2
When does the Orthodox observe the Feast of St. Timothy and Titus? Do they observe them together, or perhaps with Silas? I’m not familiar with the details of the Orthodox Church Year calendar.
January 26th, 2010 | 1:40 pm | #3
Paul,
For the Apostle Titus and Bishop of Crete I get a variety of answers on when his memory is observed, August 25 is one answer. For Apostle Timothy I get Jan 22.
If you go to this site (a OCA parish in downtown Atlanta which I do not attend but visited a few times when on business some years back now), download the program linked on that page “Menologian” it lists the readings, hymns and Saints for that day.
Typically a Saint is remembered on the anniversary date of his passing. Some important Saints are also remembered on additional days as well, e.g., St. Gregory of Palamas and St. Maximus the Confessor have Sunday’s in Lent as feast days, but I think they are also remembered on the date of their passing.
Do you have any specific questions about the Orthodox liturgical calendar? For example our Lenten fast is of different accounting than the West. It starts on Monday and ends on Palm Sunday (and counts Sundays) unlike the West which begins on Wednesday. The fast of course does not break with Holy week, but continues until Pascha. Our church year begins September 1, and instead of Advent we observe a 40 day Nativity fast beginning Nov. 15.
January 26th, 2010 | 2:22 pm | #4
I like the phrase “when his memory is observed.” We use the term “commemoration” for our more minor saints’ festivals/feasts.
I am familiar, in only the broadest of terms, of the general calendar dates of beginning/end and the major feasts/festivals, but not in the details.
Once you guys finally do realize the Pope is the universal pontiff, all this will be a moot point, of course.
Kidding.
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