St. Matthew
Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
St. Matthew, also called Levi, was a tax collector at Capernaum when Jesus passed his customs table and said, "Follow me." Matthew rose, left everything, and became one of the Twelve. This calling serves as a reminder that Christ calls us from ordinary working lives to extraordinary purposes. Tradition holds that he wrote the Gospel that opens the New Testament, presenting Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah promised to Israel. His symbol is a winged man, recalling the human ancestry of Christ traced in his Gospel's first pages. After Pentecost, Matthew is said to have preached in Palestine and beyond, and to have died a martyr's death. He is the patron of accountants, bankers, and tax collectors.
View the Daily Readings for this feast day (USCCB)Prayers
Collect of St. Matthew
O Almighty God, who by your blessed Son did call Matthew from the receipt of custom to be an Apostle and Evangelist: Grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires and inordinate love of riches, and to follow your Son in the simplicity of heart; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
Book List
Read these in the days leading up to and around the feast.
Lectio Divina with the Spiritual Masters: The Gospel of Matthew with St. John Chrysostom
Find book →For adults. Journey with Saint John Chrysostom, Father of the Church, whose eloquent and powerful homilies on the Gospel of Matthew have nourished the faithful for over sixteen centuries. His commentary opens the door to the heart of Christ’s teachings, shedding light on the Sermon on the Mount, the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the call to authentic discipleship.
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