Saint Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist
S. Matthaei Apostoli et Evangelistae
Saint Matthew, called by our Lord from the tax-collector’s table to be an Apostle, wrote the first of the four Gospels and afterward preached the faith and gave his life for Christ.
Saint Matthew, also called Levi, was a publican — a collector of taxes — at Capharnaum, by the Sea of Galilee, when our Lord passed by and called him. The Gospel relates the moment with wonderful brevity: Jesus saw a man sitting in the custom-house, and said to him, “Follow me”; and he rose up and followed him. Leaving all things, Matthew made a great feast for the Lord in his house, where Jesus sat at table with publicans and sinners, and answered those who murmured that he was come not to call the just, but sinners, to repentance.
Apostle and Evangelist
Saint Matthew was numbered among the twelve Apostles, and was a witness of the words and works, the death and resurrection of our Lord, and received with the rest the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. To him the Church ascribes the first of the four holy Gospels, written, as ancient tradition holds, for the Jewish converts, and setting forth how in Jesus of Nazareth the promises and prophecies of the Old Covenant were fulfilled, and how he is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the King foretold of old. For this reason the Gospel of Saint Matthew has ever held the first place among the four.
After the Ascension of our Lord and the descent of the Holy Ghost, Saint Matthew preached the Gospel; and the tradition of the Church relates that he carried the faith into distant lands and there at length won the crown of martyrdom, laying down his life for the Lord whom he had served. Though the particulars of his apostolic labours and of his death are variously reported, the Church honours him with confidence as Apostle, Evangelist, and Martyr.
His feast
The Church has kept the memory of Saint Matthew from ancient times, honouring him on the twenty-first of September with the red vestments of a martyr. In the sacred Liturgy he is set before the faithful as one who, at a single word of Christ, forsook gain and worldly security to follow the Lord, and who has given to the Church through his Gospel an inexhaustible treasure.
The collect of his feast prays that we may be helped by the prayers of the blessed Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, whom the Lord in his unspeakable mercy was pleased to call from the receipt of custom to be an Apostle. His feast is kept on the twenty-first of September.
The Collect
May the prayers of the blessed Apostle and Evangelist Matthew commend us unto thee, O Lord, we beseech thee: that what of ourselves we cannot obtain, may be granted us by his intercession.
Beáti Apóstoli et Evangelístæ Matthǽi, Dómine, précibus adiuvémur: ut, quod possibílitas nostra non óbtinet, eius nobis intercessióne donétur.
Patronage
He is venerated as an Apostle and Evangelist, and is honoured as a patron of bankers, tax-collectors, accountants, and customs officers.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his feast is observed on the same day, 21 September, as a Feast.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Matthew?
It is kept on 21 September in both the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Second Class feast, and in the modern calendar, where it is observed as a Feast. The date is unchanged.
Who was Saint Matthew?
He was a tax-collector of Galilee, also called Levi, whom our Lord called to be one of the twelve Apostles. He is honoured as the author of the first of the four Gospels and, by tradition, as a martyr who gave his life preaching the faith after Pentecost.
What is Saint Matthew’s Gospel?
It is the first of the four canonical Gospels, ascribed by ancient tradition to Saint Matthew and written especially for converts from Judaism. It shows how Jesus fulfils the prophecies of the Old Covenant and is the promised Messiah, the Son of the living God, and has always held the first place among the Gospels.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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