St Matthias the Apostle: Life, Death, Prayer and Feast Day

St Matthias is the apostle chosen by lot, after the Ascension, to take the place of Judas Iscariot among the Twelve, as St Luke tells in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Beyond that page of Scripture we know little for certain: tradition sends him to preach in Judaea and then among distant peoples, and holds that he died a martyr. In the Roman calendar of 1962 his feast falls on 24 February (25 February in leap years), a feast of the second class in red vestments. Here is his election, what tradition says of his mission and death, his relics, and the prayers of his Mass in Latin and English.

Who was St Matthias?

Matthias was one of the disciples who followed Our Lord through the whole of His public life. St Peter's words at his election require exactly that: the new apostle had to be one of the men who "have companied with us, all the time that the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, until the day wherein he was taken up from us" (Acts i. 21-22). Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius and St Jerome all report the tradition that he was one of the seventy-two disciples whom Our Lord sent out two by two.

He is not to be confused with St Matthew, the tax collector called from his custom-house, apostle and evangelist, whose feast is on 21 September. The two names are close, but they are two different men.

How St Matthias was chosen to replace Judas

Between the Ascension and Pentecost, the apostles waited in Jerusalem with Our Lady and the disciples, about a hundred and twenty persons in all. St Peter rose to speak of the vacant place of Judas Iscariot. St Luke's account is read as the Epistle of St Matthias' Mass:

In those days Peter rising up in the midst of the brethren, said (now the number of persons together was about an hundred and twenty): Men, brethren, the scripture must needs be fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was the leader of them that apprehended Jesus: who was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. And he indeed hath possessed a field of the reward of iniquity, and being hanged, burst asunder in the midst: and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so that the same field was called in their tongue, Haceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let their habitation become desolate, and let there be none to dwell therein. And his bishopric let another take. Wherefore of these men who have companied with us, all the time that the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, until the day wherein he was taken up from us, one of these must be made a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph, called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And praying, they said: Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, to take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas hath by transgression fallen, that he might go to his own place. And they gave them lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. (Acts i. 15-26, Douay-Rheims.)

Three things stand out. It is St Peter who takes the lead, before the descent of the Holy Ghost, in filling the place of an apostle. The choice is made by prayer before it is made by lot: the apostles ask God to show the man He has already chosen. And the office is called a "bishopric", an episcopatus: the apostles knew that the charge entrusted to them was to be handed on. A few days later Matthias received the Holy Ghost with the rest at Pentecost.

What is St Matthias known for?

Apart from his election, Scripture names him nowhere else. Clement of Alexandria records that he was remarkable for insisting on the need to mortify the flesh in order to master the sensual appetites, a lesson he had learnt from Christ and practised himself.

Tradition says he preached first in Judaea and then in other lands. According to the Greeks he carried the faith to Cappadocia and to the shores of the Caspian Sea, where he suffered much from the savage peoples among whom he worked, and he received the crown of martyrdom in Colchis, at the eastern end of the Black Sea.

His name also attracted a good deal of apocryphal literature, which the Church never received: a "Gospel of Matthias" already known to Origen, and a Greek romance, the Acts of Andrew and Matthias in the City of the Cannibals, which Butler calls "a Greek fiction" of perhaps the second century. These are legends, not history.

How did St Matthias die?

Tradition holds that he died a martyr, but the accounts disagree on where and how, and Butler is plain: "We know nothing for certain of the manner of his death." The Greek Menaia and other legendary sources say he was crucified, in Colchis. A Latin tradition has him stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded, and that is why, in Western art, he so often holds an axe or a halberd, the usual symbol of St Matthias; he is also shown with a book or a scroll, like the other apostles. Our page on how the apostles died sets his death beside those of the other eleven.

Where is St Matthias buried?

Butler records the tradition that his body was long kept at Jerusalem and was carried to Rome by St Helena, mother of Constantine. Another tradition holds that a part of his relics went to Trier, in Germany, where the Benedictine Abbey of St Matthias venerates what it holds to be his tomb, rediscovered, the abbey's tradition says, in 1127, during building work on its church. It has been a place of pilgrimage ever since. Both claims rest on tradition rather than on documents.

The prayers of the feast of St Matthias (Missal of 1962)

The Mass of St Matthias is proper. Its Introit sings Mihi autem nimis honorati sunt amici tui, Deus, "But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable" (Psalm cxxxviii. 17); the Epistle is the account of his election above; the Gospel is Our Lord's thanksgiving to the Father and His invitation, "Come to me all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you" (St Matthew xi. 25-30), which we have written about in Come to Me, All You Who Labour. The Credo and the Preface of the Apostles are said.

Collect, 24 February

Deus, qui beatum Matthiam Apostolorum tuorum collegio sociasti: tribue, quaesumus; ut, eius interventione, tuae circa nos pietatis semper viscera sentiamus. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

O God, who didst join blessed Matthias to the company of Thine Apostles: grant, we beseech Thee, that by his intercession we may ever feel the tender mercy of Thy love toward us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Secret

Hostias tibi, Domine, quas nomini tuo sacrandas offerimus, sancti Matthiae Apostoli tui prosequatur oratio: per quam nos expiari facias et defendi. Per Dominum nostrum.

May the prayer of Thine Apostle Saint Matthias accompany the offerings, O Lord, which we present to be consecrated to Thy name: and through his prayer do Thou cleanse and defend us. Through our Lord.

Postcommunion

Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus: ut per haec sancta, quae sumpsimus, interveniente beato Matthia Apostolo tuo, veniam consequamur et pacem. Per Dominum nostrum.

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that through these holy mysteries which we have received, and by the intercession of blessed Matthias Thine Apostle, we may obtain pardon and peace. Through our Lord.

The Collect is the Church's own prayer to St Matthias for any day of the year. His name is also invoked among the apostles in the Litany of the Saints: Sancte Matthia, ora pro nobis.

When is St Matthias' feast day?

In the Roman calendar of 1962 the feast of St Matthias is a feast of the second class, in red vestments, on 24 February in ordinary years and on 25 February in leap years. The reason is the old Roman way of counting: the extra day of a leap year was reckoned as a doubled 24 February (the "bissextile" day), so the feasts that follow it in the last days of February move forward by one day, and St Matthias with them. The feast often falls in Septuagesima or in Lent; as a feast of the second class it takes the place of the Lenten weekday, which is then commemorated.

The calendar of 1969 moved St Matthias to 14 May, in Eastertide. The Greek Church keeps him on 9 August. You will find his February date in our traditional Catholic calendar of 1962 and the other apostles in our guide to the Catholic saints.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is St Matthias the same as St Matthew?

No. St Matthew, also called Levi, was called by Our Lord from his tax booth, was one of the Twelve from the beginning and wrote the first Gospel; his feast is 21 September. St Matthias was chosen after the Ascension to take the place of Judas; his feast is 24 February.

Was St Matthias martyred?

Tradition holds that he was, but the accounts disagree: crucified in Colchis according to the Greeks, stoned and beheaded at Jerusalem according to a Latin tradition. Nothing is known for certain of the manner of his death.

What is St Matthias the patron saint of?

The old sources assign him no particular patronage beyond the Church's honour as an apostle. In recent years he has been called online the "patron of alcoholics"; we have found no basis for that title in the traditional sources, and it should be taken as a modern devotional custom, not an ancient patronage.

What is the symbol of St Matthias?

An axe or a halberd, the instrument of his martyrdom according to the Latin tradition; sometimes also a book or a scroll.

When was St Matthias born?

Nothing is recorded of his birth. We know only, from the Acts of the Apostles, that he was a disciple from the time of St John's baptism.

When was St Matthias canonized?

Never by a formal process: like all the apostles he has been honoured as a saint from the beginning, by the testimony of Scripture itself.

The Iter Fidei app carries the Roman Missal of 1962 with the Mass of St Matthias, the Breviary and the traditional calendar with its leap-year rule, in Latin and English. Join early access here.

Sources. Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version, Acts of the Apostles i. 15-26; St Matthew xi. 25-30; Psalm cxxxviii. 17. Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints, 24 February (St Matthias, Apostle). Roman Missal (1962), Proper of Saints, 24 February. Roman Breviary, 24 February.