Saint Matthias.html



In the New Testament Acts of the Apostles, the author of the Gospel of Luke records that Saint Matthias was the Apostle chosen by the remaining eleven apostles to replace Judas Iscariot, following Judas's betrayal of Jesus and his suicide (Acts 1:18-26).

Biography

There is no mention of a Matthias among the lists of disciples in the three synoptic gospels. According to Acts 1, in the days following the Ascension of Jesus, Peter proposed to the assembled disciples, who numbered about one hundred and twenty, that they choose one to fill the place of the traitor Judas in the apostolate:

23.So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24.Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25.to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." 26.Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

Eduard Zeller declared this narrative is inconsistent with the history of the Apostles' movements, in that the Apostles were in Galilee after the Crucifixion. However, the Acts of the Apostles clearly states (i.12) that they returned to Jerusalem.

No further information about Matthias is to be found in the canonical New Testament. Even his name is variable: the Syriac version of Eusebius calls him throughout not Matthias but "Tolmai", not to be confused with Bartholomew (which means Son of Tolmai) who was originally one of the twelve Apostles; Clement of Alexandria says some identified him with Zacchaeus; the Clementine Recognitions identify him with Barnabas; Hilgenfeld thinks he is the same as Nathanael in the Gospel of John.

According to Nicephorus (Historia eccl., 2, 40), Matthias first preached the Gospel in Judea, then in Ethiopia (made out to be a synonym for the geographically quite separate Colchis, now Caucasian Georgia) and was crucified in Colchis. A marker placed in the ruins of the Roman fortress at Gonio (Apsaros) in the modern Georgian region of Adjara claims that Matthias is buried at that site.

The Synopsis of Dorotheus contains this tradition:

Matthias in interiore Æthiopia, ubi Hyssus maris portus et Phasis fluvius est, hominibus barbaris et carnivoris praedicavit Evangelium. Mortuus est autem in Sebastopoli, ibique prope templum Solis sepultus. ("Matthias preached the Gospel to barbarians and meat-eaters in the interior of Ethiopia, where the sea harbor of Hyssus is, at the mouth of the river Phasis. He died at Sebastopolis, and was buried there, near the Temple of the Sun.")

An extant Coptic Acts of Andrew and Matthias, places his activity similarly in "the city of the cannibals" in Ethiopia.

Alternately, another tradition maintains that Matthias was stoned at Jerusalem by the Jews, and then beheaded (cf. Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclesiastique des six premiers siècles, I, 406-7).

According to Hippolytus of Rome, Matthias died of old age in Jerusalem.

Clement of Alexandria observed (Stromateis vi.13.):

Not that they became apostles through being chosen for some distinguished peculiarity of nature, since also Judas was chosen along with them. But they were capable of becoming apostles on being chosen by Him who foresees even ultimate issues. Matthias, accordingly, who was not chosen along with them, on showing himself worthy of becoming an apostle, is substituted for Judas.

Writings

The lost Gospel of Matthias was attributed to Matthias.

Veneration

The feast of Saint Matthias was included in the Roman Calendar in the eleventh century and celebrated on the sixth day to the Calends of March (24 February usually, but 25 February in leap years). Since this date frequently falls within Lent, the feast was transferred in 1969 to 14 May, so as to celebrate it in Eastertide close to the Solemnity of the Ascension,^[1] the event after which the Acts of the Apostles recounts that Matthias was selected to be ranked with the Twelve Apostles. Some Catholics continue to observe the older calendar.

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates his feast on 9 August.

The Church of England's Book of Common Prayer liturgy celebrates Matthias on 24 February. According to the newer Common Worship liturgy he is celebrated on 14 May with a festival, although he may be celebrated on 24 February, if desired. In the Episcopal Church, his feast is on 14 May ^[2]

It is claimed that St. Matthias the Apostle's remains are interred in the oldest German town, Trier, at the abbey of St. Matthias, and were brought there through Empress Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine I (the Great). However, according to Greek sources, the remains of the apostle are buried in the castle of Gonio-Apsaros, Georgia.

References

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Matthias

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.