Timothy

Saint Timothy was born in Lystra or Derbe in Lycaonia (Asia Minor), the son of a Jewish mother who had come to faith in Christ and a Greek father. From childhood he knew the Scriptures, and when Saint Paul returned to the region on his second missionary journey, he found Timothy already respected among the believers, formed by the quiet fidelity of his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois. Paul took him as a beloved disciple and coworker, and Timothy shared in the labors, poverty, and trials of the Gospel as they traveled through Macedonia, Greece, and Ephesus. Though naturally reserved and sometimes troubled by illness, Timothy served with steadfast devotion. Paul trusted him with delicate missions to strengthen young churches and addressed him with fatherly tenderness in the letters that bear his name, urging him to preach without fear and to guard the faith. Tradition holds that Timothy became the first bishop of Ephesus and suffered martyrdom around AD 97 while opposing a pagan procession. He is also invoked against stomach and intestinal disorders. His feast day is January 22.