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Matthias

A follower chosen after the Ascension to replace Judas Iscariot. He completes the story of the Twelve without being counted among the original twelve selections.

Lifetime1st century; birth year unknown
End of life UncertainDeath traditions vary; place, method and year uncertain.
Imaginative portrait of Matthias
Artistic illustration · ImageGenArtistic interpretation; the historical likeness is unknown.
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE STORY

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Illustration of Matthias — Following during Jesus’s ministry
Artistic illustration · ImageGenArtistic imagination based on the account; not a reconstruction of events.
01 / 05Jesus’s ministry

Following during Jesus’s ministry

Scripture

Acts 1:21–22 requires Judas’s replacement to have accompanied the community from John’s baptism to the Ascension. Matthias belongs among those candidates. The text does not provide his first calling scene or a series of individual conversations with Jesus.

USCCBRead in context ↓
01Scripture

Following during Jesus’s ministry

Jesus’s ministry
Illustration of Matthias — Following during Jesus’s ministry
Artistic illustration · ImageGenArtistic imagination based on the account; not a reconstruction of events.

Acts 1:21–22 requires Judas’s replacement to have accompanied the community from John’s baptism to the Ascension. Matthias belongs among those candidates. The text does not provide his first calling scene or a series of individual conversations with Jesus.

USCCB
02Scripture

Resurrection witness as the criterion

After the Ascension
Illustration of Matthias — Resurrection witness as the criterion
Artistic illustration · ImageGenArtistic imagination based on the account; not a reconstruction of events.

Peter’s requirement is more than filling a missing name: the candidate must become a witness to the resurrection with the apostles. This links experience of following Jesus with the responsibility of proclamation.

USCCB
03Scripture

Prayer, lots and a new responsibility

After the Ascension
Illustration of Matthias — Prayer, lots and a new responsibility
Artistic illustration · ImageGenArtistic imagination based on the account; not a reconstruction of events.

Acts 1:23–26 names two candidates, Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias. After prayer and casting lots, Matthias is selected and added to the eleven. He replaces Judas after Jesus’s earthly ministry, not Matthew.

USCCBThe Holy See
04Uncertain

After selection: limits of the record

Early Church
Illustration of Matthias — After selection: limits of the record
Artistic illustration · ImageGenSymbolic illustration for tradition or uncertain details.

The New Testament does not narrate Matthias’s travels after this selection. Benedict XVI stresses the scarcity of further information. Later mission stories must be labelled tradition rather than expanded into a complete unsupported chronology.

The Holy See
05Uncertain

Varied death traditions, memory at Trier

End of life · varied traditions
Illustration of Matthias — Varied death traditions, memory at Trier
Artistic illustration · ImageGenSymbolic illustration for tradition or uncertain details.

A Vatican devotional source mentions differing death accounts, including connections with Jerusalem or other regions. No single year or manner is therefore asserted. Trier’s Church source reports remains venerated as his in Saint Matthias’s abbey crypt.

Vatican City StateTrier Cathedral

Historical note

Matthias is distinct from Matthew. Acts 1 gives the criteria and selection process but does not narrate his later life. Trier is a reported relic location, not an established death location.

PRESENT-DAY LOCATIONS

Relics and places of remembrance

These attributions follow site custodians, not biological testing of identity. The locations are a selection, not an inventory of all fragments.

The façade of the church of Saint Matthias’s Abbey in Trier.

The façade of the church of Saint Matthias’s Abbey in Trier. The abbey’s custodians report Matthias’s tomb within this complex.

Wikimedia Commons (photographer unnamed) · Public domain · Photo source · 8 August 2008 · Resized and converted to WebP.
Trier · Germany

Benediktinerabtei St. Matthias · Krypta

Location reported by institutional sources

Trier Cathedral’s source reports remains venerated as Matthias’s relics in the abbey church crypt. This is a pilgrimage and custody location according to the local Church. Its existence does not settle the location of Matthias’s death, for which several traditions survive.

Trier Cathedral

Sources checked: 2 October 2026

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Sources & notes

Read the sources

Sources checked: 2 October 2026

  1. Acts 1 — NABRE text and notes ↗USCCB
  2. Benedict XVI — Judas and Matthias ↗The Holy See
  3. May 14: Saint Matthias Apostle ↗Vatican City State
  4. Sankt Matthias — apostolic tomb in the crypt ↗Trier Cathedral

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