Saint of the Day: February 24th - St Matthias the Apostle. Butler'sLivesoftheSaints February 24/May 14 Saint Matthias Apostle († 63) After our Blessed Lord's Ascension His disciples came together, …More
Saint of the Day: February 24th - St Matthias the Apostle.
Butler'sLivesoftheSaints February 24/May 14
Saint Matthias
Apostle
(† 63)
After our Blessed Lord's Ascension His disciples came together, with Mary His mother and the eleven Apostles, in an upper room at Jerusalem. The little company numbered no more than one hundred and twenty souls. They were waiting for the promised coming of the Holy Ghost, and they persevered in prayer. Meanwhile there was a solemn act to be performed on the part of the Church, which could not be postponed. The place of the fallen Judas had to be filled, that the number of the Apostles might be complete. Saint Peter, therefore, as Vicar of Christ, arose to announce the divine decree. What the Holy Ghost had spoken by the mouth of David concerning Judas, he said, must be fulfilled. Of him it had been written, His bishopric let another take. A choice, therefore, was needed of one among those who had been their companions from the beginning, who could bear witness to the Resurrection of Jesus.
Two were named of equal merit, Joseph called Barsabas, and Matthias. After praying to God, who knows the hearts of all men, to show which of these He had chosen, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, who was thereby numbered with the Apostles. It is recorded of the Saint, wonderfully elected to so high a vocation, that he was remarkable for his mortification of the flesh. It was thus that he made his election sure.
He preached in Judea where he was persecuted by both Jews and Gentiles, and died by stoning, a victim of their pursuits, in the year 63. His body was taken to Rome by Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, some 250 years later. A church there bears his name.
Reflection. Our ignorance of many points in Saint Matthias's life serves to fix the attention all the more firmly upon these two — the occasion of his call to the apostolate, and the fact of his perseverance. We then naturally turn in thought to our own vocation and our own end: may it be like his, a holy death in reward for our fidelity.
Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
*On leap years, St. Matthias' feast day is celebrated on February 25
Butler'sLivesoftheSaints February 24/May 14
Saint Matthias
Apostle
(† 63)
After our Blessed Lord's Ascension His disciples came together, with Mary His mother and the eleven Apostles, in an upper room at Jerusalem. The little company numbered no more than one hundred and twenty souls. They were waiting for the promised coming of the Holy Ghost, and they persevered in prayer. Meanwhile there was a solemn act to be performed on the part of the Church, which could not be postponed. The place of the fallen Judas had to be filled, that the number of the Apostles might be complete. Saint Peter, therefore, as Vicar of Christ, arose to announce the divine decree. What the Holy Ghost had spoken by the mouth of David concerning Judas, he said, must be fulfilled. Of him it had been written, His bishopric let another take. A choice, therefore, was needed of one among those who had been their companions from the beginning, who could bear witness to the Resurrection of Jesus.
Two were named of equal merit, Joseph called Barsabas, and Matthias. After praying to God, who knows the hearts of all men, to show which of these He had chosen, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, who was thereby numbered with the Apostles. It is recorded of the Saint, wonderfully elected to so high a vocation, that he was remarkable for his mortification of the flesh. It was thus that he made his election sure.
He preached in Judea where he was persecuted by both Jews and Gentiles, and died by stoning, a victim of their pursuits, in the year 63. His body was taken to Rome by Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, some 250 years later. A church there bears his name.
Reflection. Our ignorance of many points in Saint Matthias's life serves to fix the attention all the more firmly upon these two — the occasion of his call to the apostolate, and the fact of his perseverance. We then naturally turn in thought to our own vocation and our own end: may it be like his, a holy death in reward for our fidelity.
Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
*On leap years, St. Matthias' feast day is celebrated on February 25
Saints of the Day:
Adela of Blois
Antonio Taglia
Arnold of Carcassonne
Betto of Auxerre
Berta of Busano
Constantius of Fabriano
Cummian Albus of Iona
Ethelbert of Kent
Evetius of Nicomedia
Florentina Nicol Goni
Ida of Hohenfels
Josef Mayr-Nusser
Josefa Naval Girbes
Liudhard
Lotario Arnari
Marco De’ Marconi
Modestus of Trier
Paulian of Le Puy
Peter the Librarian
Praetextatus of Rouen
Primitiva …More
Saints of the Day:
Adela of Blois
Antonio Taglia
Arnold of Carcassonne
Betto of Auxerre
Berta of Busano
Constantius of Fabriano
Cummian Albus of Iona
Ethelbert of Kent
Evetius of Nicomedia
Florentina Nicol Goni
Ida of Hohenfels
Josef Mayr-Nusser
Josefa Naval Girbes
Liudhard
Lotario Arnari
Marco De’ Marconi
Modestus of Trier
Paulian of Le Puy
Peter the Librarian
Praetextatus of Rouen
Primitiva
Sergius of Caesarea
Simon of Saint Bertin
Tommaso Maria Fusco
Adela of Blois
Antonio Taglia
Arnold of Carcassonne
Betto of Auxerre
Berta of Busano
Constantius of Fabriano
Cummian Albus of Iona
Ethelbert of Kent
Evetius of Nicomedia
Florentina Nicol Goni
Ida of Hohenfels
Josef Mayr-Nusser
Josefa Naval Girbes
Liudhard
Lotario Arnari
Marco De’ Marconi
Modestus of Trier
Paulian of Le Puy
Peter the Librarian
Praetextatus of Rouen
Primitiva
Sergius of Caesarea
Simon of Saint Bertin
Tommaso Maria Fusco