(Photo: Unsplash/Brett Jordan)
24 February is St Matthias’s Day. Matthias is known as “the 13th apostle”, but who was he and what do we know about him? This is the story …
The name Matthias
Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος and has a similar origin to Matthew, which means “gift of God”. The name has never been particularly popular in English-speaking countries, but is fairly common in German-speaking lands, where it is often shortened to Matze. Forms of the name are also popular in Iceland, Slovenia, and Hungary.
Matthias
Matthias – not to be confused with the Apostle Matthew – first appears unnamed as one of the first disciples of Jesus, and he remained loyal to him throughout his ministry. He is likely one of the seventy, or seventy-two (depending on which manuscript you use) disciples of Jesus (Luke 10:1) who were sent out in pairs. It was from among this broader group of disciples that the original twelve apostles were selected (Luke 6:13). Matthias was in the larger group of disciples.
Replacing Judas
The background to the story of Matthias follows events after Judas Iscariot was remorseful about betraying Jesus and then hung himself (Matthew 27:1–5). After the Ascension, the remaining 120 followers of Jesus gathered together in Jerusalem (Acts 1:12–15). Peter explained that the place of Judas should be filled to maintain the number of twelve apostles. Simon Peter quoted Psalm 109:8 as “Let another take his office” (NKJV) or “Let someone else take his position” (NLT) (Acts 1:20). The apostles set the ideal requirement that the replacement must be someone who had been with them from the time of John’s baptism to the time of the Ascension, and who was a witness of his resurrection (Acts 1:21–22). Two men who fitted the criteria were proposed for election.
The options
The first option was Joseph called Barsabbas, also known as Justus, and the other was Matthias. The community prayed for guidance (Acts 1:24), and then cast lots. The lot fell upon Matthias, and he was ordained as an apostle (Acts 1:26). As a result, he is often known as “the thirteenth apostle”.
What we do not know
There is a lot we do not know about this story. We presume that both Joseph Justus and Matthias were happy to be nominated. We do not know if they were the only two possible candidates, or if there were other potential candidates besides them who perhaps did not want to be considered for the role. It is not known what Matthias thought about spending all of that time as a disciple in the background and then being thrust into responsibility as an apostle. Nor is it known what Joseph Justus thought about not being selected. It is not known when the Early Church changed the criteria for being an apostle, because later other people are called apostles, such as James (Galatians 1:19), Barnabas (Acts 14:14), and Paul (1 Corinthians 1:1), and it is not known for how long the Church felt they had to keep the number to twelve.
Traditions
Matthias is not mentioned again by name in the New Testament. However, he is there but unnamed among the group known as “the Apostles” or “The Twelve” (Acts 6:2; 1 Corinthians 15:5), who remained in Jerusalem. As often happens, the gap in the biblical record is filled by tradition. The generally accepted tradition is recorded by Nicephorus, the Greek historian. This records that Matthias evangelised in Judea, and then later, when the apostles dispersed, Matthias went with Andrew to the region of Colchis at the eastern end of the Black Sea, which is now in western Georgia. The tradition has it that he was martyred there by stoning.
Burial Place
Local tradition in Georgia states that Matthias was stoned to death and buried at the ruins of the Roman fortress of Gonio (Apsaros) in Adjara. Visitors are shown a marker there which claims to indicate the location. Another tradition says that his relics were later brought to Europe, perhaps by St Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine. The remains were then taken to the Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua, near Venice in Italy.
Yet another tradition says that the relics, or some of the relics, were taken from Padua to the Benedictine Abbey at Trier (sometimes called Trèves) in Germany, which is near the border with Luxembourg. Here his relics were, perhaps suspiciously, rediscovered in 1127, and then the abbey was dedicated to him. The abbey church of St Matthias at Trier became a major pilgrimage site, and as a result, Matthias became a popular name in Germany.
Prayers to St Matthias
Matthias was never formally canonised, but he is generally regarded as a saint and martyr, and formally called “St Matthias, Apostle and Martyr”. In pre-Reformation times, when Christians would pray to saints, some people prayed to St Matthias for perseverance when they felt overlooked, because Matthias had followed Jesus from the beginning, yet remained in the background until his belated calling to apostleship. The prayer to select him — “Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen” (Acts 1:24) — made him a natural patron saint for those seeking God’s will in tough decisions, especially those considering ordained ministry or religious orders. He was also honoured as a martyr, as one who “finished the race” (2 Timothy 4:7) in costly faithfulness.
Churches dedicated to St Matthias
The most famous church dedicated to St Matthias is the Abbey Church in Trier in Germany, because it claims to have his relics. However, St Matthias has never been a popular saint to dedicate churches to, and there are only sixteen churches in the Church of England dedicated to him. Even the famous “Matthias Church” in Budapest, with its coloured patterned roof tiles, is not actually dedicated to him, but is named after the fifteenth-century King Mátyás (Matthias) of Hungary.
St Matthias’s Day
In the Western Church, the Feast of Matthias was historically kept on 24 February. There is no obvious reason for this date, but there is a theory. In the original Julian calendar, during a leap year they did not simply tack on an extra day at the end of February, as we do now; instead, the practice was to double 24 February, which was the “sixth day before the Calends of March” (ante diem sextum Kalendas Martias), which created a “bissextus” or double sixth. In ancient times, St Matthias was considered lucky because he was the apostle who was chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot, and so he was lucky that in a leap year he got two days.
In 1969, under the modern Roman Catholic calendar reforms agreed at Vatican II, the feast of St Matthias was moved to 14 May, closer to the period between Ascension and Pentecost in the calendar, to better fit the sequence of the story in the lectionary. However, in the Church of England and some other liturgical traditions, the historic St Matthias’s Day is still marked on 24 February.
Lectionary readings
The lectionary readings for St Matthias’s Day are Matthew 11:25–30, because it illuminates Matthias’ unexpected call from obscurity to apostleship, as one who took the yoke of apostleship later; and Acts 1:15–26, which tells of his election as an apostle.
Collect
The Anglican collect prayer for St Matthias’s Day is: “O Almighty God, who into the place of the traitor Judas didst choose thy faithful servant Matthias to be of the number of the twelve Apostles: Grant that thy Church, being alway preserved from false Apostles, may be ordered and guided by faithful and true pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
