Apostle Matthias.

The Holy Apostle Matthias was born at Bethlehem of the Tribe of Judah, and from his early childhood he studied the Law of God under the guidance of Saint Simeon the God-Receiver. Unlike the other apostles, Matthias receives no mention in the Gospels themselves, yet when the Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself to the world, Saint Matthias believed in Him as the Messiah, followed constantly after Him and was numbered among the Seventy Apostles, whom the Lord sent them two by two before His face. He had been with Jesus from his baptism by John until Jesus's Ascension.

After the Ascension of the Savior, Saint Matthias was chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the Twelve Apostles. This unique calling underscores the Church's faith that lots were cast; Matthias was chosen, and soon after his election, Matthias received the Holy Spirit with the other disciples at Pentecost. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Matthias preached the Gospel at Jerusalem and in Judea together with the other Apostles. From Jerusalem he went with the Apostles Peter and Andrew to Syrian Antioch, and was in the Cappadocian city of Tianum and Sinope, where he was locked into prison and miraculously freed by Saint Andrew the First-Called, and afterwards journeyed to Amasea, a city on the shore of the sea, and during a three year journey of the Apostle Andrew, Saint Matthias was with him at Edessa and Sebaste.

According to Church Tradition, he was preaching at Pontine Ethiopia (presently Western Georgia) and Macedonia, and he was frequently subjected to deadly peril, but the Lord preserved him to preach the Gospel. Once, pagans forced the saint to drink a poison potion, and he drank it, and not only did he himself remain unharmed, but he also healed other prisoners who had been blinded by the potion, and when Saint Matthias left the prison, the pagans searched for him in vain, for he had become invisible to them. Another time, when the pagans had become enraged intending to kill the Apostle, the earth opened up and engulfed them.

The Apostle Matthias returned to Judea and did not cease to enlighten his countrymen with the light of Christ's teachings, and he worked great miracles in the Name of the Lord Jesus and he converted a great many to faith in Christ. The Jewish High Priest Ananias ordered that the Apostle Matthias be arrested and brought for judgment before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, where using the prophecies of the Old Testament, the Apostle Matthias demonstrated that Jesus Christ is the True God, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, Consubstantial and Coeternal with God the Father. After these words the Apostle Matthias was sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin and stoned, and when Saint Matthias was already dead, the Jews, to hide their malefaction, cut off his head as an enemy of Caesar. According to several historians, the Apostle Matthias was crucified, and indicate that he instead died at Colchis; the Apostle Matthias received the martyr's crown of glory in the year 63.

St. Helena brought the relics of St. Matthias to Rome, and a portion of them was at Trier. According to Greek sources, the remains of the apostle are buried in the castle of Gonio-Apsaros, Georgia. Local tradition in Georgia states that Matthias was stoned to death and buried at the ruins of the Roman fortress of Gonio (Apsaros) in Adjara.

The Apostle Matthias is depicted in iconography with a battle sword placed over a book, symbolizing his struggles to preach the Gospel. His veneration throughout the Eastern Orthodox Church acknowledges him as a faithful witness to the Resurrection and a zealous missionary who paid the ultimate price of martyrdom. While preaching the Gospel message, Matthias emphasized the importance of self-control, and said that in order to experience the peace and joy that God intends, people must subordinate their physical desires to their spiritual desires.

The Holy Apostle Matthias was born at Bethlehem of the Tribe of Judah and from his early childhood studied the Law of God under the guidance of Saint Simeon the God-Receiver. When the Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself to the world, Saint Matthias believed in Him as the Messiah, followed constantly after Him and was numbered among the Seventy Apostles, whom the Lord sent two by two before His face.

After the Ascension of the Savior, Saint Matthias was chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the Twelve Apostles. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Matthias preached the Gospel at Jerusalem and in Judea together with the other Apostles, and from Jerusalem he went with the Apostles Peter and Andrew to Syrian Antioch, and was in the Cappadocian city of Tianum and Sinope. Here the Apostle Matthias was locked into prison, from which he was miraculously freed by Saint Andrew the First-Called.

According to Church Tradition, he was preaching at Pontine Ethiopia (presently Western Georgia) and Macedonia. Once, pagans forced the saint to drink a poison potion, and he drank it, and not only did he himself remain unharmed, but he also healed other prisoners who had been blinded by the potion. He worked great miracles in the Name of the Lord Jesus and he converted a great many to faith in Christ.

The Jewish High Priest Ananias ordered that the Apostle Matthias be arrested and brought for judgment before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, where the Apostle Matthias demonstrated using the prophecies of the Old Testament that Jesus Christ is the True God, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, Consubstantial and Coeternal with God the Father. After these words the Apostle Matthias was sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin and stoned, and when Saint Matthias was already dead, the Jews, to hide their malefaction, cut off his head as an enemy of Caesar. The Apostle Matthias received the martyr's crown of glory in the year 63.