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Saint Matthias the Apostle
Chosen to join the Twelve after Judas’s fall
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Life and witness
Acts 1:15–26 describes the assembly’s choice of a witness who had accompanied Jesus’s followers from John’s baptism until the Ascension. Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias were proposed; after prayer and the casting of lots, Matthias was numbered with the eleven apostles. This is not the call of Matthew the tax collector.
Historical setting
Acts 1:15–26 describes the assembly’s choice of a witness who had accompanied Jesus’s followers from John’s baptism until the Ascension. Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias were proposed; after prayer and the casting of lots, Matthias was numbered with the eleven apostles. This is not the call of Matthew the tax collector.
Legacy and remembrance
The New Testament does not then narrate Matthias’s missionary journeys or death. Later traditions preserve differing accounts, and iconographic scenes of his martyrdom illustrate tradition rather than an independently documented event. His selected fixed feast is August 9.
More about the life
The individual church Life remembers Matthias preaching alongside other apostles and preserves more than one account of his death. It explicitly mentions an alternative tradition placing his death in Colchis, rather than presenting only the Jerusalem narrative. That disagreement is important evidence about the limits of a continuous reconstruction. Acts provides a different kind of detail: the community prays before Matthias is chosen to join the Twelve. His remembrance can therefore include later missionary testimony without claiming that the New Testament records those later destinations or circumstances.
Quotes
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No quotations have been approved for this collection yet. This does not mean that no authentic words survive. See the readings and sources below.
Readings
Selected reading
Acts 1:24-26 (the choosing of Matthias)
And they prayed, and said, 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. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
English: cited historical translation. Modern Greek, Russian and Macedonian: LogosPharos translations through English, not direct translations from ancient Greek.
Editorial context
The apostles propose a replacement for the place of Judas and cast lots between two candidates, and the lot falls upon Matthias, who is numbered with the Eleven. The passage records the choosing; no words of his own are recorded in it.
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Source text and edition
And they prayed, and said, 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. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
King James Version, the English translation cited here. Modern Greek, Russian and Macedonian below are relay translations through this English text, not direct translations from the Greek.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%201&version=KJV
Words recorded in the sources
No words are reliably recorded for this saint in the sources used here, so only the selected reading is published.
Translations and context are AI-assisted and editorially reviewed, not independently certified by a scholar. Compare the displayed source text; short selections are not complete works.
Writings and works
Checked against Eastern Orthodox sources. Written works, recorded teaching, and works about the saint are distinguished.
No securely attributed writing is listed in the sources reviewed for this profile. This is not proof that the saint never wrote; the Church account below is a work about the saint, not by the saint.
Church life and commemoration
Work about the saint
Attribution source: Eastern Orthodox Church account
External sources may be in another language. Modern editions and translations can be copyrighted; full books are not copied here.
Miracles and testimony
These summaries distinguish Scripture, hagiographical accounts and later testimony. A source establishes that an event was reported, not independent proof of its supernatural cause. Miracles are attributed to God, not autonomous powers of saints. Reports of healing are not medical advice or a promise of recovery.
Scriptural account
Acts 5:12–16
Acts reports signs and healings through the apostles collectively. This passage does not identify which individual apostle performed each event; it is not evidence for a separate personal miracle attributed to this apostle.
Read the sourceResearch and reading notes
These are original editorial biographies, not copied source translations. Scripture, historical writing, and hagiographical tradition are distinguished in the text. This page is a study introduction, not an exhaustive critical edition or a personal spiritual rule.
The saints listed here are commemorated by Eastern Orthodox churches. These summaries and translations are independent editorial work, not official Church publications or Church-approved translations.
Church sources
https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/06/30/101711-synaxis-of-the-holy-glorious-and-all-praised-twelve-apostles
https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/08/09/102243-apostle-matthias-of-the-seventy