Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Argument
Titus was a Gentile and a Greek by both parents, and indeed, if we believe Chrysostom here, in his first homily, he was originally from Corinth. Hence the Apostle, when writing his second letter to the Corinthians, repeatedly names Titus, and used him among them as if he were one of their own countrymen as his minister, for collecting alms and other ecclesiastical matters. This Titus, having been converted to Christ by Paul and baptized, attached himself to him, and was a distinguished helper and interpreter in his preaching. Hence in II Cor. II, 13, Paul calls Titus his brother.
For Titus was endowed with remarkable innocence of conduct and holy character, and so throughout his whole life he cultivated and preserved virginity, as St. Ignatius teaches in his epistle to the Philadelphians. For this reason he was made by Paul Archbishop of Crete and of the other neighboring islands; moreover he was sent by Paul into Dalmatia, where he likewise preached, as is clear from II Tim. IV, 10; and at length, after many Churches had been erected and founded, he returned to Crete, and died holily in the 94th year of his age, and was buried in that same place, as Baronius teaches in the Martyrology, drawing from St. Jerome and others. His feast day is observed in the Church on January 4.
Therefore the Apostle, having preached in Crete in the preceding year, departing thence into Greece, left Titus in Crete, and made him Archbishop, that he might complete the preaching he had begun and the founding of the Cretan Church, as is clear from chapter I, verse 5. And so, just as he instructs Timothy by two Epistles, so he instructs Titus by this one, and teaches what are the duties of a Bishop and Pastor: for these three pontifical Epistles are of the same argument, and very similar to one another, so that this Epistle seems to be a compendium of both Epistles to Timothy. Hence St. Augustine, in book IV of On Christian Doctrine, chapter xvi, when he had mentioned the Epistle to Titus and both Epistles to Timothy, says: "These three Epistles he ought to have before his eyes, upon whom is imposed the role of teacher in the Church."
First, therefore, in chapter I, having commended the grace of Christ and the Gospel, he advises Titus to appoint and ordain presbyters, that is, Bishops and Pastors, throughout the cities; and he teaches of what kind and of what stature they ought to be, inasmuch as they are bound to resist heretics and Judaizers, and to defend and propagate the sound faith.
Secondly, in chapter II, he teaches what admonitions he ought to give to the elderly, to the married, to the young, and to servants, to this end: that according to the grace and law of Christ, all may live soberly, justly, and piously in this present age, awaiting the blessed hope.
Thirdly, in chapter III, he commands that he teach Christians to obey magistrates, even pagan ones, and to conduct themselves modestly and honestly, knowing that they have died to their former concupiscence and vices, and through the grace of Christ and baptism have been reborn to a new, holy, and Christian life. Next he commands that the Judaizers and heretics, with their fables and disputes, be avoided; and finally he summons Titus and Zenas to himself at Nicopolis.
That it was written at Nicopolis in Epirus is taught by the Greek and Syriac versions, and by St. Jerome here, by Athanasius in his Synopsis, and by Theodoret, Chrysostom, Oecumenius, and others. At Nicopolis, I say, that is, in the city, or in a place near and subject to Nicopolis, when of course the Apostle was traveling there and was near to Nicopolis. For this is what he means when he says in chapter III: "Make haste to come to me to Nicopolis; for there (he does not say here, but there, namely, whither I am now journeying nearby) I have determined to winter." That it was written in the year of Christ 58, and consequently before his first imprisonment, Baronius and others teach generally.