Matthias is interpreted “given to the Lord,” “humble,” or “small.” After Christ’s Ascension, the apostles chose him to take the place of Judas the traitor among the twelve apostles, as appears in Acts 1, where it is said: “The lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven.”
There are two ways of speaking about this lot. Dionysius says in his book On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy: “Concerning the divine lot that fell upon Matthias, others have said various things, irreligiously, as I think. Nevertheless, I too shall state my understanding. It seems to me that Scripture calls the lot a certain thearchic gift, showing the divine election received by that thearchic choir.”
Jerome and Bede say that these lots were the kind frequently used in the Old Testament. Thus Jerome says in Cause 26, Question 1: “Lots must not immediately be used after Matthias’s example, for the privileges of a few cannot make a common law.”
Gratian gives the reason why lots were permitted in the Old Testament but are now prohibited in Cause 26, Question 2, § Accordingly. The three kinds of lot—the consultative, divisive, and divinatory—are treated at length in the Second Part, in the title on superstitions.
After the coming of the Holy Spirit, Matthias received Judea as his lot. He devoted himself to preaching there and worked miracles.
A certain legend preserved at Trier reads of him as follows: “Matthias was most learned in the Lord’s law, pure in body, prudent in mind, acute in resolving questions of Sacred Scripture, provident in counsel, and ready in speech.”
While he preached throughout Judea, he converted many through signs and wonders. The Jews therefore envied him and condemned him in their council. The two men who had accused him of blasphemy cast the first stones at him after his unjust condemnation. While he was being stoned, a man struck him on the head with an axe. Matthias stretched his hands toward heaven and rendered his spirit to God.
His body was translated from Judea to Rome and then, according to that legend, carried to Trier. According to others, it is commonly said to rest at Rome in the church of Saint Mary Major beneath a porphyry stone. His head is shown to the people.
Matthias was substituted for Judas Iscariot. We omit pursuing the story that relates Judas’s birth and upbringing, his killing of his father, and his marriage to his mother in ignorance that they were his parents, after which, upon learning the truth, he approached Jesus for pardon. Its truth is considered doubtful.