St. Matthias

There is no mention of a Matthias among the lists of disciples in the three synoptic gospels. According to Acts 1, in the days following the Ascension of Jesus, Peter proposed to the assembled disciples, who numbered about one hundred and twenty, that they choose one to fill the place of the traitor Judas in the apostolate. Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

No further information about Matthias is to be found in the canonical New Testament. According to some traditions, Matthias first preached the Gospel in Judea, then in Ethiopia, and was crucified in Colchis. A marker placed in the ruins of the Roman fortress at Gonio (Apsaros) in the modern Georgian region of Adjara claims that Matthias is buried at that site.

Matthias died around the year 80 A.D.. His Feast Day is May 14.