May 14: Saint Matthias Apostle
The Last Apostle
In the Acts of the Apostles (1:15-26) it is said that in the days following the Ascension of the Lord, the Apostle Peter, presiding at the assembly of 120 brothers, proposed that they choose one amongst themselves to take the place of the traitor Judas Iscariot.
Two disciples were selected: Joseph, called Barsaba, and Matthias. Lots were drawn between the two and the choice fell on Matthias. He is, therefore, the last Apostle and the only one not chosen directly by Jesus. Until that moment, he had been a disciple who always followed Jesus. He was with the Lord already when he was baptized by John the Baptist.
The name Matthias is derived from the Greek Mattathias, in Hebrew Mattithiah, which means "Gift of God". It should not be confused with the evangelist Matthew whose name has the same meaning. According to the apocryphal texts, Matthias was born in Bethlehem into a family of the tribe of Judah.
It is also likely that he was one of the seventy-two disciples sent by Jesus “like sheep in the midst of wolves” (Matthew 10:16).
We know for certain that Matthias was present at the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles.
After becoming one of the Apostles, we no longer have certain information about him. Some details about his life are provided by the apocryphal texts, in particular by the Acts of Andrew and Matthias. It is said that he left Jerusalem for Ethiopia. He was taken prisoner by a people of cannibals, then blinded, miraculously healed and freed by Andrew, and in the end killed by beheading.
It seems that his death occurred in Sevastopol, but according to other accounts he was martyred in Jerusalem, where he was stoned and then beheaded with a halberd. He is often represented with this weapon in iconography.
His relics are preserved in various locations such as, according to tradition, in the Benedictine Abbey of St. Matthias in the city of Trier, Germany. Also in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome and in the Abbey of Saint Giustina in Padua.