Saint Titus, Bishop and Confessor
from the Liturgical Year, 1904


We are to celebrate today, the Feast of a holy Bishop of the Apostolic Age--a Disciple of the Apostle St. Paul. Little is known of his life; but, by addressing to him one of his inspired Epistles, the Apostle of the Gentiles has immortalised his memory. Wheresoever the Faith of Christ has been or shall be preached, Titus' name has been venerated by the Faithful; and as long as the world lasts, the holy Church will read to her children this Epistle, which was written, indeed, to a simple Bishop of the Isle of Crete, but was dictated by the Holy Ghost, and therefore destined to be a part of those Sacred Scriptures, which contain the word of God. The counsels and directions given in this admirable Letter, were the rule of the holy Bishop, for whom St. Paul entertained a very strong affection. St. Titus had the honour of establishing the Christian Religion in that famous Island, which was one of the strong-holds of Paganism. He survived his master, who was put to death by Nero. Like St . John, he sweetly slept in Christ at a very advanced age, respected and loved by the Church he had founded. As we have already observed, his life left but few traces behind it; but these few are sufficient to prove him to have been one of those wonderful men, whom God chose as the directors of his infant Church.

Titus, Bishop of Crete, was initiated into the christian faith by Paul the Apostle; and being prepared by the sacraments, he shed so bright a light of sanctity on the infant Church, that he merited to be chosen as one of the Disciples of the Doctor of the Gentiles. Being called to bear the burden of preaching the Gospel, so ardent and persevering was he in the discharge of that duty, that he endeared himself to St. Paul so much, as to make the Apostle say in one of his Epistles, that being come to Troas, to preach the faith in that city, he found no rest for his heart, because he found not there his brother Titus. And having, a short time after this, gone to Macedonia, he thus expresses his affection for his disciple in these terms: But God who comforteth the humble, comforted us by the coming of Titus.

Being sent to Corinth by the Apostle, he acquitted himself in this mission (which mainly consisted in collecting the alms given by the piety of the faithful towards alleviating the distress of the Hebrew Church) with so much prudence and patience, that he not only confirmed the Corinthians in the faith of Christ, but made them so desirous of a visit from Paul, who had been their first teacher in the faith, that they shed tears of longing affection. After having undertaken several journeys, both by sea and land, in order to sow the seed of the divine word among people of various tongues and countries; and after having supported, with great firmness of soul, countless anxieties and fatigues, in order to plant the standard of the Cross;--he landed at the island of Crete in company with his master St. Paul. The Apostle made him Bishop of the Church which he had founded in that island: and it is not to be doubted but that Titus so discharged his duty as that he became a model to the Faithful, according to the advice given to him by his master, in good works, in doctrine, in integrity, in gravity.

Thus did he become a shining light, pouring forth the rays of christian faith on them that were sitting in the darkness of idolatry and lies, as in the shadow of death. Tradition tells us that he passed into Dalmatia, where he laboured with extraordinary zeal to enlist that people under the banner of the Cross. At length, full of days and merit, in the ninety-fourth year of his age, he slept in the Lord the death of the just, on the vigil of the nones of January (January 4th), and was buried in the Church in which the Apostle had appointed him Minister of the word. St. John Chrysostom and St. Jerome pass great eulogium upon this holy Bishop, and his name is inscribed in the Roman Martyrology on the day above mentioned; but in establishing his Feast to be celebrated, with an Office and Mass, throughout the catholic world, by the clergy secular and regular, the Sovereign Pontiff Pius the Ninth ordered it to be kept on the first vacant day following the anniversary of the Saint's death.



Prayer:


Favoured Disciple of the great Apostle! the holy Church has decreed that one of the days of the ecclesiastical year should be spent in celebrating thy virtues, and presenting thee our prayers. Look down with love upon the Faithful who glorify the Holy Spirit that gave thee thy rich graces. Thou didst discharge thy Pastoral duties with untiring zeal. Every quality enumerated in the Epistle addressed to thee by St. Paul, as required in a Bishop, was possessed by thee; and thou shinest in the crown of Jesus, the Prince of Pastors, as one of the brightest of its gems. Forget not the Church militant, of which thou wast one of the first guides. Eighteen hundred years have passed away since thou wast taken from her. During this long period, she has had sufferings and trials without end; but she has triumphed over every obstacle, and she continues her glorious path, saving souls and offering them to her heavenly Spouse; and this will she persevere doing, until her Jesus comes to stop the course of time, and open the gates of eternity.

Meanwhile, O glorious Saint! she counts on the aid of thy prayers, in the great work of the salvation of souls. Ask of Jesus, that He send us Pastors like unto thee. Pray for that Island, which thou didst convert to the true faith, but which is now buried in the darkness of infidelity and schism. Pray, too, for the Greek Church, that it may regain its ancient glory by union with the See of Peter.






St. Titus, Bishope of Crete, St. Gordius, Soldier and Martyr
by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1877


Hagiographers tell us very little of the life, virtues, and memorable acts of St. Titus; but the facts recorded by St. Paul in his Epistles are sufficient to entitle him to our highest veneration. This holy Apostle calls Titus his brother, his son, his companion, and his fellow-laborer. He says, among other things, that he had confided to him the government of the See of Crete, and writes him a special Epistle, containing instructions for the proper discharge of his episcopal duties. All these testimonies are proof of the reputation for virtue and holiness which the disciple enjoyed in the eyes of his great master. According to St. Chrysostom and many others, Titus was born of heathen parents at Corinth. Temperance, seclusion, and chastity, joined with the study of the liberal arts and of languages, formed the chief attractions of his youth. When St. Paul made Corinth the field of his operations in spreading the light of the Gospel, Titus was one of the first to acknowledge the truth of our heavenly doctrines, and to solicit the favor of Baptism at the hands of the Apostle. The latter duly appreciated the noble dispositions and the brilliant talents of the youth, and after grounding him in the tenets of our holy Faith joyfully conferred on him the desired grace.

Titus, not content with procuring this happiness for himself, longed to see all men enjoy the blissful knowledge of Jesus Christ. St. Paul, aware of his zeal, took him as his companion in his evangelical labors throughout all Asia, and soon consecrated him Bishop of Crete and the adjacent isles. Dalmatia was the next field of his apostolic labors. His fatigue and exertions in his visitation of so many countries, and especially during his sojourn at Corinth, for the conversion of the idolaters; the persecutions which he underwent, and the thousands of souls whom he rescued from the mazes of Paganism, are known to the living God only. His fixed determination to comply to the letter with all the instructions, which he had received from St. Paul for his conduct in his episcopal duties, was the ground-work of his sanctity.

There can be no doubt of the many miracles which rendered his evangelical career glorious, and proved to be beacons of salvation to numberless benighted unbelievers. The Corinthians possessed a very valuable statue of Diana, to which they refused to cease paying Divine honors. The holy Bishop betook himself to prayer, from which he soon rose, penetrated with new courage, and precipitated the statue from the pinnacle which it occupied, with such force that it was shattered into a thousand pieces; the blind worshippers immediately acknowledged their folly in adoring a being so powerless. Another day Titus happened to be passing before a stately pagan temple, built in honor of Jupiter by the Governor Secundus, in compliance with the imperial command. Obeying a heavenly injunction, the holy man cursed the temple, as Christ had cursed the barren fig-tree, and immediately, without receiving the least touch of human hand, it fell to the ground. These and many other miracles, wrought by St. Titus through power from on high, opened the eyes of the heathens to the truth of our holy Faith, which they embraced with -every demonstration of joy.

The holy servant of God occupied the episcopal chair nearly thirty-eight years, during which his zeal for souls never abated. At the age of ninety-four he was called by the Lord to receive his crown of eternal glory. The ministers of God were angels, who appeared to him at the hour of his death, and invited him to enter into the possession of never-fading joys. After his death his countenance appeared to the bystanders lit up with a heavenly glow. St. Chrysostom attests his perseverance in virginity. His esteem for this precious virtue arose from a sense of its eminent dignity, and impelled him to recommend it to others.


Practical Reflections


St. Titus led a life of continual virginity; St. Gordius avoids the least breath of impurity and endeavors to guard others from the infection. If you seriously desire to be eternally happy, cherish a tender love for holy purity and guard against its least violation; for there is no crime so hateful to the Lord, no act so baneful to men, as the breach of holy purity. Hell is actually filled with wretches who have given themselves up to habits of debauchery, while there are few who grieve and sincerely repent of their former levity. We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit in confirmation of our assertion, when he exhorts youth to fly the allurements of women, and to shun undue intimacy: "Her house inclineth death, and her paths to hell. None that go in unto her shall return again, neither shall they take hold of the paths of life" (Prov. i 18, 19). What prophetic words can be more appalling? Not one, who is enslaved to a life of debauchery, returns by the practice of serious, sincere penance to the path of salvation, unless the all-powerful Grace of God should fall upon his soul. Can you promise yourself that the Lord will thus act in your favor, if you do not immediately fly those occasions of evil, or if you are blindly led by your audacity to presume on the mercy of God.

St. Titus employed his tongue only for the instruction and enlightenment of unbelievers in our sacred truths: St. Gordius never defiled his with an oath, a blasphemy, or other words derisive of God. No immodest discourses or songs, slanderous language, and, least of all, no denial of his Faith ever passed his lips; but a fearless profession of Christ, fervent exhortations to the heathens to issue forth from their blindness, the praise and exaltation of God form his only subjects. How have you employed your tongue? Alas! how seldom to God's glory and your neighbor's advantage! on the contrary, what deep wounds it has inflicted on His honor and others' interests! Call to mind the lies, slanders, oaths, immodest expressions, blasphemies, and other similar insults, of which your tongue is guilty. Were all these not offensive to God? Not to mention other excesses of the same stamp, bethink yourself of your shameless language or entertainments: have you used them without dishonoring God, and scandalizing or poisoning your neighbor's heart. Woe to you, should you appear this day before the tribunal of God to render an account of the transgressions of your tongue only! Could you stand the shock? Examine yourself then while there is time, and check the wanderings of your tongue. Even granting that you need a special grace of God to compass this end, I warn you not to cease petitioning the Divine assistance with fervor and perseverance, and co-operating with the grace which you are offered. "All of us," says St. Augustine, "must labor to curb our tongues; but we should at the same time earnestly petition the Lord for grace." The same holy Doctor commenting on these words of St. James--"The tongue no man can tame," says : "If no man can of his own power tame his tongue, he must beg the Lord to put it in check. Do with it as with animals, which we break: a horse, a lion, a camel, an ox, or an elephant will not become tame, unless put under the hand of man; so should we look to God to tame the man, that is, his tongue." In other words no man has strength sufficient to bridle his tongue, and keep it under control; a special grace of God is necessary, and to obtain it fervent prayers must be addressed to the Lord. Do so immediately.




Prayers to Obtain Purity


I. O Jesus, Son of the living God, brightness of eternal light, who from all eternity wast begotten most pure in the bosom of the eternal Father, and who in time didst will to be born of a most pure and immaculate virgin: I, thy most frail creature, with all my heart beseech thee to preserve me pure in soul and body, and to make holy purity flourish abundantly in thy holy Church, for thy greater glory and the salvation of the souls redeemed by Thee.

 II. O Mary ever virgin, most pure and immaculate daughter of the eternal Father, mother of the eternal Son, spouse of the Holy Ghost, august and living temple of the most blessed Trinity, lily of purity, and mirror without spot: obtain for me, O dear mother! from your good Jesus and mine, purity of soul and body; and beg of Him to make this virtue flourish more and more in all classes of the faithful.

 III. O most chaste spouse of Mary immaculate, who didst merit at the hands of God the singular honor of being the foster-father of Innocence itself, Christ Jesus, and the spotless guardian of the Virgin of virgins: obtain for me the love of Jesus, my God and Savior, and the special protection of Mary, my most holy mother; and procure, O holy Joseph, protector of all chaste souls! that thy chosen virtue of holy purity be better loved by me and by all men.

 (His Holiness, Pope Pius IX., by a rescript of the Sacred Penitentiary, Feb. 27, 1862, granted to all the faithful, every time that, with at least contrite heart and devotion, they shall say these prayers to obtain holy purity: an indulgence of 300 days.)  







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