Житие святого апостола Тимофея

The Holy Apostle Timothy came from the Lycaon region 884, and received his upbringing and education in the famous city of Lystra 885, which became famous not so much for the abundance of the fruits of the earth as for this God-planted fruitful branch. This young shoot grew, however, from a not entirely healthy root: for just as a fragrant rose grows from thorns, so Saint Timothy descended from an unbelieving Greek, who was known for his pagan wickedness and was so mired in vices that his son subsequently surpassed all people in virtues and high morality. The mother and grandmother of Saint Timothy were Jewish, both holy and righteous, adorned with good deeds, as the holy Apostle Paul testifies to this in the words: “I desire to see you, remembering your tears, so that I may be filled with joy, bringing to mind your unfeigned faith, which formerly dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice; I am confident that it is also in you” (2 Tim. 1:4.5). While still a youth, blessed Timothy, nourished by his mother not so much on bodily food as on the word of the Lord, avoided pagan and Jewish error in every possible way and then turned to the holy Apostle Paul, that God-voiced church trumpet. It happened like this. The Holy Apostle Paul, together with the disciple and apostle of Christ Barnabas, came to Lystra, as Divine Luke tells about this in the Acts of the Apostles: “they withdrew, he says, to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and their surroundings” (Acts 14:6). Upon his arrival there, the holy Apostle Paul performed a great miracle: he healed a man lame from his mother’s womb with a single word. Seeing this, the inhabitants of the city were greatly surprised, saying: “The gods in human form have come to us.” When they learned that these were not gods, but people, and were called apostles and preachers of the Living God, moreover, they were opponents of false gods, and were sent precisely for this purpose, to turn people from demonic error to the True God, who could not only heal the lame, but also raise the dead, then many turned from their error to piety (Acts 14:8-18). Among these was the mother of this blessed Apostle Timothy, who remained a widow after the death of her husband. She joyfully accepted the holy Apostle Paul into her home, took care of his maintenance and the comforts of life, and finally gave him her son, St. Timothy, for his education, as a gift for the miracle performed in their city and for the light of the true faith received from him. Saint Timothy was still very young in years, but very capable and prepared to receive the seed of the word of God. Saint Paul, having accepted the young man, not only found in him meekness and a disposition to goodness, but also saw in him the grace of God, as a result of which he loved him even more than his parents in the flesh 886. But since Saint Timothy was still very young and could not bear the hardships of traveling, the holy Apostle Paul left him in his mother’s house, assigning skilled teachers to him who would teach him the Divine Scripture, as he himself recalls in his letter to Timothy: “You have known the sacred scriptures from childhood” (2 Timothy 3:15). The Apostle Paul himself, at the instigation of the Jews, was stoned by the people, was dragged out of the city, after which he went to other cities. A few years later, when the holy Apostle Paul, having left Antioch, wanted to visit the brethren in all the cities in which he had previously preached the word of God, then, taking Silas with him, he came to Lystra 887, where Saint Timothy lived. Seeing that he had reached perfect age and was excelling in every virtue, and that he was highly respected by all the Christians there, the Apostle Paul accepted him into his apostolic ministry and made him his constant companion in all his labors and a co-servant in the Lord. When he wanted to leave the city, for the sake of some Jews, who lived in large numbers there and in the surrounding places, he circumcised Timothy according to the law of Moses (Acts 16:3), - not because this was necessary for salvation, for new grace is given instead of circumcision in holy baptism, but so that the Jews would not be offended by him, since they all knew about his origins from a pagan. Coming from Lystra, the holy Apostle Paul passed through cities and villages, teaching and preaching the Kingdom of God and enlightening everyone with the light of piety. Behind him, like a star following the sun shining from the third heaven, followed the Divine Timothy 888, perceiving the unflickering light of piety, the teaching of the gospel of Christ and learning high exploits and a virtuous life, as the holy Apostle Paul himself testifies to this: “you followed me in teaching, life, disposition, faith, generosity, love, patience, in persecution, suffering” ( 2 Tim. 3:10, 11). Thus, Saint Timothy drew all the virtues from the chosen vessel, the Apostle Paul, and received from him, for the sake of Christ, apostolic poverty. Without acquiring any wealth for himself, neither gold, nor silver, nor any other material goods, he moved from place to place, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. He adopted the custom of repaying good for evil; reproached - he blessed, persecuted - endured, reviled - rejoiced in spirit, and in everything he showed himself to be God's servant, being a true imitator of his teacher. The Holy Apostle Paul, seeing his disciple so successful in virtues, made him first a deacon, then a presbyter and, finally, a bishop 889, although he was young in years. Having become, through the laying on of apostolic hands, a servant of the Mysteries of Christ, Saint Timothy became the most zealous imitator of the apostolic hardships and labors, not inferior to the other apostles in suffering and labor during the preaching of the teachings of Christ. Neither youth nor weakness of body could ever prevent him from fulfilling the feat he had undertaken. In all his activities, he revealed greatness of spirit, as his teacher, the holy Apostle Paul, testifies to this in his first letter to the Corinthians: “If Timothy comes to you, see that he is safe with you, for he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. Therefore let no one despise him” (1 Cor. 16:10–11). A little higher, praising him, the holy Apostle Paul wrote: “I have sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ” (1 Cor. 4:17). Likewise, in his other epistles, he calls Saint Timothy his brother, saying: “Paul the prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy the brother” (Phil. 1:1), “Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy the brother” (2 Cor. 1:1), “Paul the messenger of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy the brother” (Col. 1:1). And he also writes: “We have sent Timothy our brother and servant of God, and our fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to confirm you and comfort you in your faith” (1 Thessalonians 3:2). These and many other testimonies in praise of Saint Timothy are found in the letters of the Apostle Paul. However, St. Timothy did not boast about this, but, living in humility and strict observance of himself from sin, he exhausted himself so much with constant labor and fasting that his teacher himself, looking at his exploits and fasts, greatly pitied him. He urged Saint Timothy not to drink only water, but to drink a little wine for the sake of his stomach and frequent ailments (1 Tim. 5:23), with which, although his body was constantly burdened, his spiritual purity remained intact and free from any damage. Saint Timothy and his teacher passed through all the ends of the world: now in Ephesus, now in Corinth, now in Macedonia, now in Italy, now in Spain, they proclaimed the word of God, so that with full right one could say about them: “Their sound goes through the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Ps. 18:5). At the same time, Saint Timothy was insightful in reasoning, quick in answers, - in preaching the word of God - a skillful orator, in the presentation of the Divine Scriptures - a fascinating interpreter, in church administration and defense of the truths of the faith - a worthy shepherd. What is especially worthy of attention is that he received abundant grace, since he drew his teaching from a twofold source: he not only had Saint Paul as his teacher, but also learned from Saint John, the beloved disciple of Christ 890. When Saint John was sent into exile by the Roman Emperor Domitian 891 on the island of Patmos 892, Timothy was instead the bishop of the city of Ephesus, where a little time later he suffered for his testimony about Jesus Christ in the following way. Once in Ephesus, a particularly solemn holiday was celebrated, called “catagogium,” on which idolaters, men and women, wearing images of various strange creatures, took idols and drakolia in their hands and walked around the streets of the city with shameless dancing. At the same time, they sang songs in discordant voices and rushed at those they met like robbers, and even killed many. They also committed many other nasty iniquities, with which they thought to express the veneration of their vile gods. Seeing this, blessed Timothy was inflamed with the fire of Divine jealousy and, appearing at this ungodly spectacle, openly and boldly preached the One true God, our Lord Jesus Christ, clearly showed their errors and self-delusions regarding their gods and freely expressed much that was useful for convincing them. They, wandering in the darkness of pagan errors, did not understand and did not understand the words of the apostle, but, unanimously rushing against him, cruelly beat him with the daggers in their hands, mercilessly and inhumanly dragged him along the ground, trampling under their feet, and finally tortured him to death 893. The Christians who came later found him barely breathing. They carried him out of the city, and when he died, they buried him in a place called Peony in Greek, i.e. obese. After a long time, the honest relics of the holy Apostle Timothy, by order of King Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, were transferred by the holy martyr Artemius 894 from Ephesus to Constantinople and placed in the church of the holy apostles along with the relics of the holy Apostle Luke and Andrew the First-Called. This was pleasing to God, for in their lives everything was common: character, teaching and preaching of the Gospel. Therefore, a common tomb befitted them after death, especially since their rest in heaven is common in the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Father and the Holy Spirit reigning forever. Amen. Having learned goodness and being sober in everyone, you have shrouded yourself in a sacred manner with a good conscience, you have drawn from the chosen vessel the ineffable, and you have kept faith, and you have accomplished the same course, Apostle Timothy, pray to Christ God, to save our souls. Let us all sing of Pavlov’s divine disciple and traveler Timothy with faithfulness, with reverence for the wise Anastasius, who rose from Persia like a star and drove away our spiritual passions and bodily ailments. Lycaonia is the southeastern region of Asia Minor. Christianity was planted here by St. apostle paul Lystra is a city in Lycaonia, on its border with Isauria. Nowadays on the site of Lystra is the village of Latik or Ladik. This is evident from the fact that the Apostle Paul everywhere calls him his son (1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:2, 18; 2 Tim. 1:2, 2:1). From this it is also clear that the Apostle Timothy owes his conversion to Christianity to the Apostle Paul. This was on the second apostolic journey of St. Apostle Paul. From Lystra St. Timothy accompanied the Apostle Paul on all his subsequent travels and zealously carried out all his instructions. He accompanied him on his second journey from Lystra to Troas, and from here through the Macedonian cities to Greece - Athens and Corinth. On the third journey. Paul Timothy accompanied him in Ephesus, where the apostle stayed for a long time, and from where the apostle sent him to Macedonia to collect alms and then to Corinth, where the apostle stayed for three years, and he accompanied him in Macedonia and Greece, and accompanied him on the way back to Troas and Asia. Subsequently St. ap. Timothy was with the Apostle Paul in Rome and was imprisoned with him, but was later released. After that, he again accompanied the Apostle Paul on the journey he took to visit the churches of Asia Minor and Macedon; at this time he was ordained bishop of the Ephesian Church, thus becoming the first bishop of the Ephesian Church. During separation from the ap. Timothy St. The Apostle Paul wrote him two letters of a pastoral nature. Dedication to St. ap. Timothy into the pastoral ministry, according to the apostle, was preceded by prophecies about him (1 Tim. 1:18), and the consecration itself was made through a preliminary confession of faith (1 Tim. 6:12), with the laying on of hands of the priesthood, and he was given a special gift of God's grace for the worthy performance of duties (1 Tim. 4:12-16) to which he was called. In 60 A.D. St. The Apostle John left Jerusalem, where he remained until the Dormition of the Mother of God, and preached the word of God in Asia Minor and especially in Ephesus, and thus could directly guide the apostle. Timothy in his pastoral ministry. The Roman Emperor Domitian, a cruel persecutor of Christianity, reigned from 81 to 96. This was in 96. Patmos is a bare, barren, rocky island of the Aegean Sea (Archipelago), southwest of Ephesus, classified as one of the so-called Sporadic Islands. St. ap. Timothy died a martyr around 97. Memory of St. The Great Martyr Artemy is celebrated by the Church on October 20. Transfer of St. the relics of the apostles: Luke the Evangelist, Andrew the First-Called and Timothy were committed on June 24, 356. You might be interested in: