Feast day: 21 September
Saint Matthew
Sanctus Matthaeus
A tax collector at Capernaum who rose from his customs post at a single word of Christ and wrote the Gospel that presents Jesus as the promised Messiah of Israel.
- Born
- 1st century, Capernaum in Galilee
- Died
- 1st century; tradition venerates him as a martyr
- Canonization
- Venerated as apostle, evangelist and martyr from antiquity.
- Country
- Holy Land
Biography
The call at the customs post
Matthew, also called Levi son of Alphaeus, collected tolls at Capernaum for Herod Antipas, work despised by his countrymen. Jesus said simply, 'Follow me', and he left everything, then gave a banquet where Christ ate with tax collectors and sinners.
Evangelist of the Kingdom
Papias, quoted by Eusebius, records that Matthew compiled the sayings of the Lord in the Hebrew tongue. His Gospel, addressed to Jewish Christians, gathers the teaching of Jesus into five great discourses, beginning with the Sermon on the Mount, and constantly shows how the Scriptures are fulfilled in Christ.
Mission and death
Early traditions send him to preach in Judea and then to Ethiopia or Persia, where he is venerated as a martyr. Relics honoured as his have rested in the cathedral of Salerno in Italy since the tenth century.
Timeline
- ~c. AD 28 — Called by Jesus at Capernaum
- ~c. AD 30 — Witness of the Resurrection and Pentecost
- ~c. AD 60s — Composition of the Gospel attributed to him
Dates marked ~ are traditional or debated among historians.
Symbols
Winged man — His Gospel opens with the human genealogy of Christ.
Money bag or coins — The trade he abandoned to follow the Lord.
Virtues & spiritual lessons
Immediate response to grace, detachment from money, and hospitality toward sinners. His life proclaims that no past excludes a person from God's call.
Importance in the Church
The Gospel of Matthew shaped Christian catechesis more than any other book of the New Testament, giving the Church the Beatitudes, the Our Father, the mission mandate and the ecclesial teaching of chapter 18.
Quotes
“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 9:13, recorded by the evangelist of his own call
Writings
The Gospel according to Matthew — The first Gospel in the canon, arranged around five discourses of Jesus.
Prayers
Collect of Saint Matthew
O God, who with untold mercy were pleased to choose as an Apostle Saint Matthew the tax collector, grant that, sustained by his example and intercession, we may merit to hold firm in following you. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Roman Missal, 21 September.
Places
Salerno Cathedral, Italy — Guards relics venerated as those of Saint Matthew.
Capernaum, Galilee — The lakeside town where he was called.
Scripture
Matthew 9:9–13 — The call of Matthew and the banquet with sinners.
Related saints
Entries are drawn from the Roman Martyrology, the General Roman Calendar, canonization records of the Holy See, and the saints' own writings. Where a date, quotation or attribution is uncertain, it is marked as such. (63 saints)