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.
Artistic illustration · ImageGenArtistic interpretation; the historical likeness is unknown.
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE STORY
5 chapters. One journey.
Explore at your pace, or play the story to move between chapters every 12 seconds.
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.
Artistic illustration · ImageGenArtistic imagination based on the account; not a reconstruction of events.
02 / 05After the Ascension
Resurrection witness as the criterion
Scripture
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.
Artistic illustration · ImageGenArtistic imagination based on the account; not a reconstruction of events.
03 / 05After the Ascension
Prayer, lots and a new responsibility
Scripture
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.
Artistic illustration · ImageGenSymbolic illustration for tradition or uncertain details.
04 / 05Early Church
After selection: limits of the record
Uncertain
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.
Artistic illustration · ImageGenSymbolic illustration for tradition or uncertain details.
05 / 05End of life · varied traditions
Varied death traditions, memory at Trier
Uncertain
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.
Jesus’s ministryArtistic 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.
After the AscensionArtistic 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.
After the AscensionArtistic 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.
Early ChurchArtistic 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.
End of life · varied traditionsArtistic 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.
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 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.