St Titus the Apostle

Titus was a Greek convert and one of St Paul's closest fellow workers — 'my true child in a common faith,' the apostle calls him. Paul took him to the council at Jerusalem, where the freedom of Gentile Christians was at stake, and pointedly did not have him circumcised. Titus served as Paul's envoy in the delicate crisis with the church of Corinth, carrying the severe letter and bringing back news of the Corinthians' repentance, so that Paul could write, 'God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.' Paul later left him in Crete 'to set in order what remained and appoint elders in every city,' instructions preserved in the epistle that bears his name. Tradition holds that Titus served as first bishop of Crete into extreme old age, reposing peacefully around the age of ninety-four. His relics were venerated at Gortyna; his head is now treasured in the church of St Titus in Heraklion.