Apostle & Bishop of Crete
Apostle Titus of the Seventy
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Disciple of Saint Paul, Apostle of the Seventy and first bishop of Crete.
Core account checked against Orthodox Church in America — Apostle Titus of the Seventy and Bishop of Crete, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America — Matins for August 25, Bibliographic reference — The Lives of the Holy Apostles, drawn from the Menology of Saint Dimitri of Rostov and the Great Synaxaristes. Additional ecclesiastical references appear below.
Life and Witness
From Crete to Jerusalem
Saint Titus was born on Crete into a distinguished pagan family and received a careful education in Greek learning. The ecclesiastical tradition remembers him as a young man of moral seriousness who sought truth and rejected empty superstition even before he knew the Gospel.
After hearing reports of Jesus Christ, Titus traveled to Jerusalem. He encountered the apostolic preaching and believed in the Lord, receiving Holy Baptism and becoming a disciple and fellow worker of the Apostle Paul.
Companion of the Apostle Paul
Titus accompanied Paul during important moments in the life of the early Church. The Epistle to the Galatians remembers his presence in Jerusalem, while the Corinthian correspondence shows the trust Paul placed in him during a difficult pastoral mission.
He served not as a private attendant but as an apostolic envoy who carried teaching, encouragement and practical care between the churches. Paul calls him his true child in their common faith and addresses to him the pastoral Epistle that bears his name.
First Bishop of Crete
Saint Paul appointed Titus to organize the Church on Crete and establish presbyters in its cities. Orthodox tradition therefore honors him as the island's first bishop and apostolic shepherd.
His preaching confronted idolatry and formed Christian communities in truth, sobriety and good works. The hagiographical account associates his prayer with the fall of a pagan idol, a sign that the power of false worship gives way before Christ.
Relics, Cathedral and Feast
Saint Titus reposed peacefully at an advanced age. His sacred head was returned to Crete in 1966 and is venerated in the Cathedral of Saint Titus in Heraklion, one of the island's principal Orthodox pilgrimage sites.
August 25 — Holy Apostle Titus of the Seventy and first Bishop of Crete.
In the Hagiographical Tradition
The wider Orthodox hagiographical tradition concerning the Apostles is also preserved in The Lives of the Holy Apostles, an English collection drawn chiefly from the Menology of Saint Dimitri of Rostov and the Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church.
Historical Record and Ecclesiastical Tradition
The Pauline epistles, Acts and early Church tradition are distinguished from the later extended life. His Cretan episcopate is firmly received by the Church, while the claim that he personally witnessed every event of Christ's Passion belongs to hagiographical tradition rather than an explicit New Testament statement.
Biographical information on this page is based exclusively on the Orthodox ecclesiastical sources listed below.
Orthodox Church in America — Apostle Titus of the Seventy and Bishop of CreteGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of America — Matins for August 25Bibliographic reference — The Lives of the Holy Apostles, drawn from the Menology of Saint Dimitri of Rostov and the Great SynaxaristesOrthodox Church in America — Apostle Titus of the Seventy and Bishop of CreteThe Prologue from Ohrid — August 25The Epistle of Saint Paul to TitusThe Lives of the Holy Apostles — tradition drawn from Saint Dimitri of Rostov and the Great SynaxaristesThe Prologue from Ohrid — August 25