Feast day: May 14

St. Matthias

Apostle · 1st century

Patron of Tailors, carpenters, hope in alcoholism recovery

Chosen by lot to replace Judas among the Twelve — the only apostle picked after the Resurrection.

Matthias holds a unique place among the apostles: he was not called by Jesus during his earthly ministry, but added to the Twelve after the Ascension to take the place left empty by the betrayal of Judas. His selection is described at the very beginning of the Acts of the Apostles.

Peter explained that the one chosen must be a man who had accompanied them throughout Jesus's ministry, 'from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up' — a witness to the whole of it. Two candidates met this test; the community prayed, cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias, who was numbered with the eleven.

Of his later life the New Testament says nothing, and tradition is divided: some accounts have him preaching in Judea, others in Cappadocia or by the Caspian Sea, or in Ethiopia. Most agree that he died a martyr, often depicted with an axe, the supposed instrument of his death — the source of his patronage of carpenters and related trades.

Matthias represents the continuity of the apostolic office: the conviction that the circle of the Twelve, broken by Judas, was meant to be made whole, and that the work of bearing witness to the Resurrection would be carried on by chosen successors.

His one qualification, per Acts: he had been with Jesus from the beginning. Faithful presence was the whole résumé.

Image: Peter Paul Rubens (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.

Source: newadvent.org/cathen/10066a.htm