Both were disciples of St. Paul. Timothy, according to the Acts of the Apostles, was born at Lystra in southern Turkey, his mother being Jewish, his father a Gentile. Paul took him as his travelling companion and later his emissary, representing him in Thessalonika, Corinth and Ephesus. Traditionally he is recorded as first Bishop of Ephesus. The letters of St. Paul to him in the New Testament (which may be by another hand) stress the role of the bishop in preserving true doctrine and church order. He is said to have opposed the local pagan festival of Dionysus, and been stoned to death (97AD), his remains later being transferred to Constantinople. Titus was of Gentile birth through and through. He became Paul’s secretary, was present at the important Council of Jerusalem (which decided not to saddle new pagan converts with Jewish practices) and also acted for Paul in Corinth. Paul sent him to organise the church in Crete, warning him about the natives’ unreliable behaviour by quoting the Cretans’ own writer Epimenides. Apart from a spell in Dalmatia (coast of Yugoslavia), Titus remained in Crete, serving as its first bishop. He received epistolary advice from Paul similar to that given to Timothy. He died some time towards the end of the 1st. century and was buried at Gortyna, on Crete. Greek and Syrian Christians have always kept his feast with particular solemnity.