St MATTHIAS, an apostle, was chosen instead of Judas. He preached in Judæa and part of Æthiopia, and suffered martyrdom. See the Acts of the Apostles, chap. i. There was a Gospel published under Matthias's name, but rejected as spurious; as likewise some traditions, which met with the same fate.
St MATTHIAS'S DAY; a festival of the Christian church, observed on the 24th of February. St Matthias was an apostle of Jesus Christ, but not of the number of the twelve chosen by Christ himself. He obtained this high honour upon a vacancy made in the college of the apostles by the treason and death of Judas Iscariot. The choice fell on Matthias by lot; his competitor being Joseph called Barabas, and surnamed Justus. Matthias was qualified for the apostleship, by having been a constant attendant upon our Saviour all the time of his ministry. He was, probably, one of the seventy disciples. After our Lord's resurrection, he preached the gospel first in Judæa. Afterwards it is probable he travelled eastwards, his residence being principally near the eruption of the river Apsarus and the haven Hyllus. The barbarous people treated him with great rudeness and inhumanity; and, after many labours and sufferings in converting great numbers to Christianity, he obtained the crown of martyrdom; but by what kind of death, is uncertain.—They pretend to shew the relics of St Matthias at Rome; and the famous abbey of St Matthias near Treves boasts of the same advantage; but doubtless both without any foundation. There was a gospel ascribed to St Matthias; but it was universally rejected as spurious.