| Saint Matthew |
"
by Rembrandt |
| The Tax Collector |
| Born |
1 January 1 BC, |
| Died |
24 January 34, near Hierapolis or Ethiopia |
| Venerated in |
Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox
Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Anglican Church, Lutheran Church, some other Protestant Churches |
| Canonized |
1/11/95 |
| Major shrine |
Salerno, Italy |
| Feast |
September 21 (W), November 16 (E) |
| Attributes |
tax collector |
| Patronage |
Accountants, Salerno, Italy, and others, see [1] |
 Saints Portal |
Matthew the Evangelist (מתי, "Gift of the LORD", Standard Hebrew and Tiberian Hebrew: Mattay;
Septuagint Greek: Ματθαίος, Matthaios), most
often called Saint Matthew, is an important Christian figure, and one of
Jesus' Twelve Apostles.
Name
The proper name and title of Matthew the Evangelist is debated. The gospel accounts discuss a man named Matthew only five
times, and the first occurrence of his name is found in Matthew
9:9. It is possible that James, son of Alphaeus, had been distinguished from James,
son of Zebedee by the former's other name "Levi" and that James, son of Alphaeus was called to the Apostolate along with
Matthew. Believers of this interpretation point to the fact that both Mark and
Luke call him simply "Matthew" in their lists of the Apostles [2]
[3], as does Matthew himself [4]. However, the Catholic Encyclopedia asserts that Matthew once could have been
called "Levi", according to Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27.
The Encyclopedia also states that "The fact of one man having two names is of frequent occurrence among the Jews."[1] Other gospel passages that refer to Matthew or Levi are
Mark
2:1-22 and Luke 5:27-39.
Life
Very little about Matthew's life is certain. The Gospel of Matthew introduces him
as a publican, or tax-collector, probably near Capernaum.
Some contend that Matthew's father, Alphaeus, [2][3] may be the same Alphaeus who
was father to the apostle, James (also called James the Lesser), and that the two
were brothers. However, the Gospels never describe Matthew as James' brother, even in passages
where John and James or Peter and Andrew are described as brothers.
According to Luke's Gospel, on the same day Jesus called him, he made a "great feast" (Luke 5:29) to which he invited Jesus
and his disciples. The last notice of him in the New Testament is in Acts 1:13. He is one of the few disciples mentioned by name in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, suggesting he was of more importance in
the early Church than surviving evidence indicates. It is said [citation needed] that he preached the gospel for a long time after the Ascension and carried it all the way to Ethiopia, where he was killed.
The time and manner of Matthew's death are also unclear. According to Edward
Ullendorff, the seventh book of a work he calls the "Apocryphal Acts of the
Apostles" contains an account of the baptism of King Aeglippus of
Ethiopia by Matthew, after having travelled to its capital, Naddayer. However, Matthew is said
to have been killed by Aeglippus' brother, Hyrtacus, when he took the throne. Hyrtacus is said to have killed Matthew because the
evangelist refused to sanction his marriage to Epiphigenia, Aeglippus' daughter.[4] Other traditions say that Matthew was martyred in Hierapolis of Parthia. According to Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, Matthew was martyred in Hierapolis, and Saint Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot among the twelve
Apostles, is actually the one who died in Ethiopia. Recently, there have been some controversial investigations into a
fourteenth-century document assigning Matthew's burial site to a place called "Issyk-Kul."
Matthew's relics are claimed to have been carried to Campania, in the Diocese of
Capaccio. Retrieved by Lombards, they were moved to
Salerno, where they are currently kept in the Cathedral's crypt. [5]
Recognition and Modernity
Matthew is recognized as a saint in the Roman
Catholic, Anglican and Eastern Orthodox churches. The Eastern Orthodox
celebrate his feast day on November 16, whereas
September 21 is observed in Latin and Anglican churches.
Like the other three evangelists, Matthew is often depicted in Christian art. He is usually depicted with a winged man, the
designation given to him by the Church in relation to Daniel chapter 7, or possibly as a reference to the angel who is supposed to have dictated to Matthew as he wrote his gospel. The three paintings of
Matthew by Caravaggio in the Church of San Luigi dei
Francesi in Rome are among the landmarks of Western art.
References
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See also
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