Matthew the Apostle

Who they were

Matthew, also called Levi, was a tax collector at Capernaum, collecting taxes for the Romans and despised for it. Jesus said to him only 'Follow me', and he got up and followed Him. At the banquet he then gave for Jesus, with tax collectors and sinners at table, Jesus answered the scandalised Pharisees that it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.

He became one of the Twelve and is the author of the Gospel written with Jewish Christians in mind, showing Jesus as the Messiah who fulfils the promises of the Old Testament. How he died is uncertain. His relics are in the crypt of Salerno Cathedral.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: Matthew has been honoured as an apostle and evangelist since the earliest Church.

Why that counted as sanctity

Matthew is the sinner who was called and answered at once, leaving his money-table for good. His Gospel hands on Christ's teaching to every age.

Connected on this site

• Clement of Alexandria Saint
  “Church Fathers, such as Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria, relate that Matthew preached the gospel in Judea before going to other countries.” — Wikipedia
• Ephigenia of Ethiopia Saint
  “Ephigenia of Ethiopia or Iphigenia of Ethiopia (Spanish: Efigenia; Portuguese: Ifigénia/Ifigênia; French: Iphigénie; Greek: Ἰφιγένεια), also called Iphigenia of Abyssinia, is a Western folk saint whose life is told in the Golden Legend as a virgin converted to Christianity and then consecrated to God by Matthew the…” — Wikipedia