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Saint Matthias

Apostle

Feast Day
May 14
Life
d. 80
Born
Judea

Saint Matthias was chosen by lot to take the place of Judas Iscariot among the Twelve Apostles after the Ascension of the Lord and before Pentecost (Acts 1:15-26). The criterion Saint Peter set for his election was that the candidate had accompanied Jesus and the apostles all the time the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, and so could be a witness to his Resurrection. Two were proposed, Joseph called Barsabbas and Matthias; the lot fell on Matthias, who was numbered with the eleven apostles.

The New Testament gives no further information about Matthias. Eusebius of Caesarea (Ecclesiastical History 1.12.3) lists him among the seventy-two disciples of Luke 10:1. Later traditions, of varying reliability, place his preaching in Ethiopia or in Cappadocia and the regions of the Caspian Sea, with martyrdom by stoning or beheading.

Relics venerated as those of Saint Matthias rest in the abbey of Saint Matthias at Trier, Germany, the only apostolic tomb north of the Alps. His feast was kept on February 24 in the older Roman Calendar; the post-Vatican II reform moved it to May 14 to free Lent and Eastertide for their proper observances and to keep his commemoration close to the Acts narrative.

Matthias's election by lot, accompanied by prayer (Acts 1:24), models the Church's discernment in choosing pastors: it is the Lord, not the Church, who appoints (CCC 1577). His inclusion among the Twelve is a foundational instance of apostolic succession.

Patronages

alcoholics · carpenters · tailors

Catholic Churches Named After Saint Matthias

20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Matthias's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:

Sources