Saint Matthias the Apostle
Date of celebration: 09/08
How Matthias was ranked in the dance of the twelve Apostles, we know from the Acts of the Apostles.
After the betrayal and hanging of Judas and after the Ascension of the Lord, the eleven disciples with the Virgin Mary were in the upper room. Then Peter proposed that another should be elected instead of Judas, from among the men who followed serving Christ. The proposal was accepted and two candidates were put forward: Joseph called Varsavas and Matthias.
Then they cast lots, and giving all of us an example of entrusting each of our choices to God, they all prayed together as follows: “O Lord, who knows the heart of all, choose whom I will choose from these two, let them receive the lot of this ministry and mission” (Acts of the Apostles, i’ 23-26).
That is: You Lord, who knows the hearts of all, clearly reveal the one you have chosen, one of these two, to shoulder the office of apostolic ministry. Then the lot fell to Matthias. And so he was added to the eleven Apostles.
From the later life of Matthias, we know that he preached the Gospel in Ethiopia, where he ended his life as a martyr.
