#stmatthias

One Minute Reflection – 24 February – I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth …” – Matthew 11:25

One Minute Reflection – 24 February – Feast of St Matthias, Apostle and Martyr – Acts 1:15-26, Matthew 11:25-30 “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to little ones.” – Matthew 11:25 REFLECTION – “The fact that the all-powerful God has been able to humble Himself even to the humility of the human condition,…

Saint of the Day – Feast of St Matthias Apostle – Patron of alcoholics;  carpenters; smallpox;  tailors;  hope;  perseverance,  various Diocese and cities.  Attributes – lance, spear.

St Matthias was one of the first to follow our Saviour and he was an eye-witness of all His divine actions up to the very day of the Ascension.   He was one of the seventy-two disciples but our Lord had not conferred upon him the dignity of an apostle.   And yet, he was to have this great glory, for it was of him that David spoke, when he prophesied that another should take the bishopric, left vacant by the apostasy of Judas the traitor.   In the interval between Jesus’ Ascension and the descent of the Holy Ghost, the apostolic college had to complete the mystic number fixed by our Lord Himself, so that there might be the twelve on that solemn day, when the Church, filled with the Holy Ghost, was to manifest herself to the Synagogue.   The lot fell on Mathias, he shared with his brother-apostles the persecution in Jerusalem and, when the time came for the ambassadors of Christ to separate, he set out for the countries allotted to him.   Tradition tells us that these were Cappadocia and the provinces bordering on the Caspian Sea.

Stained glass images - The Election of St Matthias.

The virtues, labour and sufferings of St Mathias have not been handed down to us.   This explains the lack of proper lessons on his life, such as we have for the feasts of the rest of the apostles.   St Clement of Alexandria (150-215), records in his writings several sayings of our holy apostle.   One of these is so very appropriate to the spirit of the present season, that we consider it a duty to quote it.   ‘It behooves us to combat the flesh and make use of it, without pampering it by unlawful gratifications.   As to the soul, we must develop her power by faith and knowledge.’   How profound is the teaching contained in these few words!   Sin has deranged the order which the Creator had established.   It gave the outward man, such a tendency to grovel in things which degrade him, that the only means left us, for the restoration of the image and likeness of God, unto which we were created, is the forcible subjection of the body to the spirit.   But the spirit itself, that is, the soul, was also impaired by original sin and her inclinations were made prone to evil, what is to be her protection?   Faith and knowledge.   Faith humbles her and then exalts and rewards her and the reward is knowledge.

— Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.

Saint and Feast of the Day – 14 May – St Matthias, Apostle of Christ, Martyr (1st Century- c80) – Patron of alcoholics; carpenters; smallpox; tailors; hope; perseverance, diocese of Gary, Indiana, diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana.   Attributes – lance, spear.

St Matthias is according to the Acts of the Apostles, the apostle chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot following Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and his subsequent suicide (as in the Gospel According to Matthew).   His calling as an apostle is unique, in that his appointment was not made personally by Jesus, who had already ascended into heaven and it was also made before the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the early Church.

There is no mention of a Matthias among the lists of disciples or followers of Jesus in the three synoptic gospels but according to Acts, he had been with Jesus from his baptism by John until his Ascension.    In the days following, Peter proposed that the assembled disciples, who numbered about one hundred and twenty, nominate two men to replace Judas.    They chose Joseph called Barsabas (whose surname was Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, “Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all [men], shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”[Acts 1:24–25]    Then they cast lots and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was numbered with the eleven apostles.   Matthias was present with the other apostles at Pentecost.

No further information about Matthias is to be found in the canonical New Testament. Even his name is variable: the Syriac version of Eusebius calls him throughout not Matthias but “Tolmai”, not to be confused with Bartholomew (which means Son of Tolmai), who was one of the twelve original Apostles.

The tradition of the Greeks says that St. Matthias planted the faith about Cappadocia and on the coasts of the Caspian Sea, residing chiefly near the port Issus.    Clement of Alexandria observed (Stromateis vi.13.):

“Not that they became apostles through being chosen for some distinguished peculiarity of nature, since also Judas was chosen along with them.    But they were capable of becoming apostles on being chosen by Him who foresees even ultimate issues.    Matthias, accordingly, who was not chosen along with them, on showing himself worthy of becoming an apostle, is substituted for Judas.”

The feast of Saint Matthias was included in the Roman Calendar in the 11th century and celebrated on the sixth day to the Calends of March (February 24 usually but February 25 in leap years).   In the revision of the General Roman Calendar in 1969, his feast was transferred to May 14, so as not to celebrate it in Lent but instead in Eastertide close to the Solemnity of the Ascension, the event after which the Acts of the Apostles recounts that Matthias was selected to be ranked with the Twelve Apostles.

St Matthias stoned to death at Colchis in 80.    It is claimed that St Matthias the Apostle’s remains are interred in the Abbey of St. Matthias, Trier, Germany, brought there through Empress Helena of Constantinople, mother of Emperor Constantine I (the Great) and St Mary Major Rome.

Thought for the Day – 14 May

What was the holiness of Matthias? Obviously, he was suited for apostleship by the experience of being with Jesus from His baptism to His ascension.   He must also have been suited personally, or he would not have been nominated for so great a responsibility.   Must we not remind ourselves that the fundamental holiness of Matthias was his receiving gladly the relationship with the Father offered him by Jesus and completed by the Holy Spirit?   The Apostles were given the mission to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world, bearing witness to His Resurrection and establishing the Kingdom of God upon the earth.   For that, they left all things and gave themselves totally.   All of us share in this mission and we all have to be apostles wherever we are.   By our very Baptism, we are sent to share the Gospel, just as St Matthias did.    If the apostles are the foundations of our faith by their witness, they must also be reminders, that holiness is entirely a matter of God’s giving but it is offered to all, in the everyday circumstances of life. We receive, we must accept and now we must give!

St Matthias, Apostle of Christ, Pray for us!