Saint Matthias, Apostle

The Acts of the Apostles tells that after the Ascension, about a hundred and twenty believers gathered in Jerusalem, and Peter proposed choosing someone to take the place of Judas among the Twelve: a man who had been with them from the baptism of John until the Ascension. Two were put forward, Joseph called Barsabbas and Matthias; they prayed and cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias.

Nothing more about him is told in the New Testament. Later traditions differ, placing his preaching in Judea, Cappadocia or around the Black Sea, and his death in Jerusalem or far away. Tradition holds that the empress Helena brought his relics to Trier, where they are kept in the abbey of Saint Matthias.