MATTHIAS, APOSTLE (Mab9l2g is an abbreviation of the Hebrew Mattanjah = “Gift of Jahweh”; also Mabr9a8l2g = Heb. Mattiljah; Syr. Tolmaj). — He took the place of Judas Iscariot. According to Eusebius (Hist. eccl., 1, 12) he was one of the seventy-two disciples. Acts 1:15–26 relates that Peter proposed to replace Judas with one of those disciples who had associated with the Apostles during Jesus’ public ministry, beginning with the baptism of John the Baptist up to the Ascension, so that he too might become “a witness to the Resurrection.” Among the 120 of whom the Church in Jerusalem was composed, two were proposed, certainly the most prominent, Joseph called Barsabbas, surnamed “the Just,” and Matthias. Since the apostle was to be chosen by Jesus, the Apostles turned to Him (Κυρίου χάριτι) so that He might show by lot which of the two was the elect. Matthias was chosen, and without further formalities was admitted to the Apostolic College.
According to Heracleon he died a natural death (as reported by Clement of Alexandria, Strom., IV, 9: PG 8, 1281). According to Nicephorus (Hist. eccl., II, 40: PG 145, 862), he preached in Ethiopia, where he suffered martyrdom; according to others, in Judea, where he was stoned to death. The apocryphal writings make him preach among the land of the anthropophagi, as do Matthew and Andrew. It is not clear whether they confuse him with Matthew. The following apocrypha exist: Acta Andreae et Matthiae in urbe anthropophagorum, the “Traditions” and the “Gospel” of Matthias (see below). Clement of Alexandria (Strom., III, 4: PG 8, 1131) records an agraphon of Matthias: “One must fight against one’s own flesh and treat it severely.”
His feast is kept on 24 (or 25) February. He is the patron saint of butchers and engineers. His relics are preserved in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and in Trier. In the Roman Canon of the Mass he is listed among the Nobis quoque.
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**Gospel of Matthias** — An apocryphal work mentioned by Origen (Hom. I in Lucam, 1, 1), Eusebius (Hist. eccl., III, 25, 6), the so-called “Catalogue of Sixty Canonical Books,” and the Decretum Gelasianum.
Some (A. Harnack, E. Hennecke) distinguish it; others (Th. Zahn, O. Bardenhewer) identify it with the Gnostic Traditions of Matthias (Παραδόσεις Ματθίου), composed in the 2nd century in Egypt and cited three times by Clement of Alexandria (Strom., II, 9, 45; III, 4, 26; VII, 13, 82), and with the Secret Discourses of Jesus to the Apostle Matthias, possessed by the Basilideans, of which (cf. Philosophoumena, VII, 20) only fragments survive in the citations of Clement of Alexandria.
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Bonaventura Mariani
**MATTHIAS of Habsburg, Emperor.** — Born 24 February 1557 at Vienna, died 20 May 1619. Son of Emperor Maximilian II and Maria of Spain, he was the younger brother of Emperor Rudolf II. Together with his other brothers Matthias progressively stripped Rudolf of all power, justifying his actions by appealing to the dangers that the Habsburg monarchy faced because of the Emperor’s indifference to political affairs. Recognized by the other archdukes as head of the House of Austria, Matthias, through the Lieben agreement near Prague, obtained in 1608 from Rudolf II the sovereignty over Austria, Hungary, and Moravia. In 1611 Rudolf was likewise forced to cede the Bohemian crown, again in favor of Matthias. Upon Rudolf’s death in 1612, Matthias was elected emperor. His trusted advisor was Cardinal Klesl.
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