St. Timothy was a disciple of St. Paul, whose works include two letters written to him. Paul speaks of having ordained Timothy by the laying on of hands (2 Timothy 1:6), so he is usually shown in liturgical dress (as at left, where he wears a chasuble). In the letters St. Paul refers to him often as a young person and as "my child," so sometimes he is shown without a beard.
A tradition at Rome has Timothy as the son of St. Pudens, a Roman Senator who hosted both St. Peter and St. Paul in his home and who also fathered SS. Pudenziana, Praxedes, and Novatus.
Feast day: January 26
At left, his portrait at Santa Pudenziana in Rome
Other images:
5th century fresco
11th century
fresco
16th century
frescoHagiography:
The
Golden Legend has the following on St. Timothy: "S.
Timothy was taken under Nero of the provost of Rome, and
was grievously beaten, and had quicklime put in his throat
and upon his wounds. And he rendered thankings to God with
all his heart. And then two angels came to him, saying:
Lift up thine head to heaven. And then he beheld and saw
the heaven open, and Jesu Christ, which held a double
crown, and said to him, 'Thou shalt receive this of my
hand.' And a man named Apollinarius saw this thing and did
him to be [i.e. had himself] baptized. And therefore the
provost commanded that they twain [two] together,
persevering in the confession of our Lord, should be
beheaded about the year of our Lord fifty-six."
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