The Apostle St. Matthias

Almighty God, who in the place of Judas chose your faithful servant Matthias to be numbered among the Twelve:
Grant that your Church, being delivered from false apostles, may always be guided and governed by faithful and true pastors;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Who Was St. Matthias?

St. Matthias was chosen to become the twelfth Apostle to replace Judas Iscariot as recorded in Acts 1:21-26. The selection process to replace Judas and others as they died established apostolic succession and encouraged others to follow the teachings of the apostles.

Tradition has it that St. Matthias was a missionary to Ethiopia, traveling within Ethiopia, preaching the gospel and becoming their first Bishop. St. Matthias was stoned and beheaded for his belief around 70 AD. A battle axe and a Bible are symbols used to remember him. The battle axe is also a symbol of martyrdom.

The “St. Matthias Cross” visible on the pinnacle of our church and in a stained glass window in the East Transept is based on an Ethiopian Cross, which was an early symbol of Christianity in that region.

Mark the Evangelist brought Christianity to Egypt in the 1st century AD and from that evolved the Ethiopian Coptic Church. The Ethiopian crosses were individually made and seldom alike. The cross design is an adaptation by the early Christians and influenced by the many cultures including the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians, and the Celts.