Saint Matthias – feast day on Thursday – according to the Acts of the Apostles, was the man chosen by the believers to replace Judas Iscariot following Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and suicide.

There is no mention of a Matthias among the lists of disciples or followers of Jesus in the Gospels. His calling as an apostle is unique because it was not made personally by Jesus, who had already ascended into heaven. It was made before the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. However, according to the Acts, he had been with Jesus from his baptism by John in the Jordan to the Ascension. In the days following, Peter proposed that the assembled disciples nominate two men to replace Judas. They chose Joseph called Barnabas and Matthias, and then prayed. When they then cast lots, the lot fell to Matthias, so he was numbered with the eleven, and he was therefore present with the other apostles at Pentecost.

No further information about Matthias is to be found in the New Testament. Some in the early centuries said he was the same man as Zacchaeus, others identified him with Barnabas. The Greeks said that St. Matthias planted the faith in Cappadocia in current day Turkey and on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Some claimed he was stoned to death in present day Georgia, while some said he went to Ethiopia. Yet other traditions maintained that Matthias was stoned and beheaded at Jerusalem, or that he simply died of old age there.

A strong tradition claims that St Matthias the Apostle’s remains are buried in the Abbey of St Matthias in Trier, Germany, brought there through Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine. Others say he was buried after his martyrdom in Georgia. The feast of Saint Matthias was included in the Church Calendar in the 11th century. In 1969, his feast was transferred from February to May 14, so as not to celebrate it in Lent but instead in Eastertide, close to the Ascension, after which he became one of the chosen.

Fr Matthew