Saint of the day May 14, 2025

The Holy Apostle Matthias was born at Bethlehem of the Tribe of Judah. From his early childhood he studied the Law of God under the guidance of Saint Simeon the God-Receiver.

When the Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself to the world, Saint Matthias believed in Him as the Messiah, followed constantly after Him, and was numbered among the Seventy Apostles, whom the Lord “sent them two by two before His face” (Luke 10:1).

After the Ascension of the Savior, Saint Matthias was chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the Twelve Apostles (Acts 1:15-26). After the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Matthias preached the Gospel at Jerusalem and in Judea together with the other Apostles (Acts 6:2, 8:14). From Jerusalem, he went with the Apostles Peter and Andrew to Syrian Antioch, and was in the Cappadocian city of Tianum and Sinope. Here, the Apostle Matthias was locked in prison, from which he was miraculously freed by Saint Andrew the First-Called.

The Apostle Matthias journeyed after this to Amasea, a city on the shore of the sea. During a three-year journey of the Apostle Andrew, Saint Matthias was with him at Edessa and Sebaste. According to Church Tradition, he was preaching at Pontine Ethiopia (presently Western Georgia) and Macedonia. He was frequently subjected to deadly peril, but the Lord preserved him to preach the Gospel.

Once, pagans forced the saint to drink a poison potion. He drank it, and not only did he himself remain unharmed, but he also healed other prisoners who had been blinded by the potion. When Saint Matthias left the prison, the pagans searched for him in vain, for he had become invisible to them. Another time, when the pagans had become enraged, intending to kill the Apostle, the earth opened up and engulfed them.

The Apostle Matthias returned to Judea and did not cease to enlighten his countrymen with the light of Christ’s teachings. He worked great miracles in the Name of the Lord Jesus and he converted a great many to faith in Christ.

The Jewish High Priest Ananias hated Christ and earlier had commanded the Apostle James, Brother of the Lord, to be flung down from the heights of the Temple, and now he ordered that the Apostle Matthias be arrested and brought for judgment before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem.

The impious Ananias uttered a speech in which he blasphemously slandered the Lord. Using the prophecies of the Old Testament, the Apostle Matthias demonstrated that Jesus Christ is the True God, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, Consubstantial and Coeternal with God the Father. After these words, the Apostle Matthias was sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin and stoned.

When Saint Matthias was already dead, the Jews, to hide their malefaction, cut off his head as an enemy of Caesar. (According to several historians, the Apostle Matthias was crucified, and indicated that he instead died at Colchis.) The Apostle Matthias received the martyr’s crown of glory in the year 63.

Saint Matthias is the patron of carpenters, tailors, those with smallpox, and in prayers for perseverance and for hope.

Reflection

The appointment of Matthias as an Apostle clearly teaches us that the pope, the successor of Saint Peter, has the authority and responsibility to appoint new Apostles—bishops—as needed. The Church Father from a century later, Saint Clement of Alexandria, quotes Saint Matthias as follows: “It behooves us to combat the flesh, and make use of it, without pampering it by unlawful gratifications. As to the soul, we must develop her power by faith and knowledge.” This quote reveals the deep spiritual knowledge Saint Matthias had regarding the importance of the mortification of the flesh and the spiritual necessity of faith. There is little doubt that the three years he spent as a disciple of Jesus prepared him for his ministry as a bishop. And there is little doubt that his ministry as a bishop brought about the conversion and sanctification of many.

Though often overlooked, St. Matthias’s story is a reminder that God calls ordinary, faithful people to extraordinary missions. He was not one of the original twelve, nor was he seeking status, yet he was chosen because of his quiet devotion to Jesus. His life testifies to the power of humble, steadfast faithfulness and his story reminds us that God works in the hidden places, preparing us for his purposes in ways we may not even recognize.