These two companions of St. Paul originally had different feast days. Timothy was honored on January 24^th, the day prior to the celebration of the Conversion of St. Paul, and Titus on February 6^th. Following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, it was decided that they be honored together on the day following the Conversion of Paul, the 26^th of January. Both received letters from St. Paul which are now part of the New Testament.

What we know about Timothy comes directly from the Acts of the Apostles, the First Letter to the Corinthians and the Second Letter of Paul to Timothy. Timothy was born of a Greek father and Jewish mother who eventually converted to Christianity. Both Eunice, his mother, and grandmother, Lois taught Timothy the Scriptures, planting the seeds for his conversion to Christianity during Paul’s first missionary journey. Timothy then accompanied Paul on both his second and third missionary journeys. Timothy was sent by Paul to Macedonia, Thessalonica and Corinth and was nearby during Paul’s imprisonment to offer him support. Timothy must have been quite young when he received Holy Orders and was sent to care for the Church at Ephesus, for at one point in his First Letter to Timothy, Paul insists “Let no one have contempt for your youth.” It is believed he remained in Ephesus until his death as a martyr for the faith.

Titus was born into a pagan family and, like Timothy, was converted to Christianity by Paul during his first missionary journey. Titus joined Paul and Barnabas at the Council at Jerusalem as recounted in Acts 15. The Second Letter to the Corinthians notes Paul’s great trust in Titus to bring peace between Paul and the Church at Corinth. Paul later sent Titus to care for the Church in Crete where he would spend the remainder of his life, dying at an advanced age.
 

Two saints share January 20 ^th as their feast day: St. Fabian and St. Sebastian.

In the year 236, Pope Anteros died and Fabian, as a layperson, went to Rome perhaps to grieve the passing of Pope Anteros and perhaps out of curiosity of who might be elected in his place.  During the discussion of who might be the next pope, suddenly a dove descended from the ceiling and settled on the head of Fabian. The crowd took this as a sign that Fabian should be the next pope and he was thus elected.

Around this same time the emperor Philip, who was friendly to Christians, halted the persecution of the Church and ushered in a period of peace. After Philip’s death, however, the new emperor Decius ordered all Christians to deny Christ and offer incense to idols. Fabian boldly and courageously refused to offer incense to idols, stood up for the faith and was martyred in 250. 

Little is known about St. Sebastian’s younger years. It is believed he was born in southern France and moved to Milan for his education. He enlisted in the Roman army around 283 and was distinguished in his service, so much so, that he was promoted to the Praetorian Guard which protected Emperor Diocletian. A clandestine Christian, his faith was discovered and reported to the emperor. Diocletian ordered him to be tied to a stake and used as target practice. Despite his body being riddled with arrows and being left for dead, Sebastian survived and was nursed back to health. Surprised that Sebastian survived, Diocletian ordered him to be beaten to death. In Christian art, Sebastian is almost always depicted fastened to a post or tree with arrows shot into his body. He is patron of soldiers, athletes and those who desire a saintly death.

St. Hilary was born around the year 310 into a pagan family in what is present day France. He grew up with a classical education in Latin and Greek, Greek philosophy and the Bible. Gradually he awakened to the truth of the Christian faith and was baptized along with his family in 345. Around 353, the people of Poitiers called for Hilary to be made their bishop.

His greatest contribution was as a scholar on the nature of Christ. Although the great Council of Nicaea in 325 had formally declared Arianism (the belief that Jesus was only human, not divine) to be heretical, it was still being shared and taught. Hilary wrote extensively to defend the true teaching on Jesus’ divinity and humanity and crafted his most important work “On The Trinity,” demonstrating the Biblical basis for this belief.

After a brief exile imposed by the Emperor Constantius II, Hilary was able to return to his diocese at Poitier where he died in 367. He was regarded a saint by the church and in 1851 formally declared a Doctor of the Church.