Den hellige Timoteus, Paulus’ medarbeider og biskop av Efesus, minnes i dag i den tradisjonelle kalenderen, og 26. januar i den nye kalenderen – og i Norge har han måttet vike helt for den hellige Eystein.
Slk leser vi om ham i de tradisjonelle tidebønnene (Matutin):
Timothy was born in Lystra in Lycaonia of a gentile father and a Jewish mother, and was a follower of the Christian religion when the Apostle Paul visited that city. Paul was so moved by what he repeatedly heard of Timothy’s holiness that he took him with him as a companion on his journeys; yet, because of the Jews who had been converted to Christ and who knew that Timothy’s father had been a Gentile, he had him circumcised. When they both arrived at Ephesus, the Apostle ordained him bishop to govern the Church there. The Apostle wrote him two letters, one from Laodicea, the other from Rome. Strengthened by these letters in the ministry of his pastoral office. he could not endure that the sacrifice which is due to God alone should be offered to the images of demons, and he strove to win over the people of Ephesus from the impiety of offering sacrifice to Diana on her feast day. He was stoned, and was nearly dead when the Christians rescued him and took him to a village on a neighboring mountain. There he died in the Lord on January 24.
Og katolsk.no skriver om datoene:
Fra 1100-tallet ble hans minnedag feiret den 24. januar, vigilien for festen for Paulus’ omvendelse. Siden kalenderreformen i 1969 har minnedagen vært 26. januar sammen med Titus, så nær apostelfesten som mulig, for å markere de to biskopenes tilknytning til Paulus. I øst minnes han den 22. januar, den tradisjonelle dødsdatoen. Hans navn står i Martyrologium Romanum.
(Jeg må legge til at jeg syns det er lite naturlig at katolsk.no kaller ham Timotheos, med både -th- og -os.)