St Matthias has a unique place in Christian history, as the only one of the twelve apostles not to be chosen by Jesus himself. According to the Acts of the Apostles, Matthias was chosen by God - through the apostles - to replace Judas Iscariot following his betrayal of Jesus and subsequent death. By the time Matthias´ appointment was made, Jesus had already ascended into heaven, but the Holy Spirit had not yet descended upon the early Church.

According to the Greek tradition, Matthias brought the Christian faith to Cappadocia and along the coasts of the Caspian Sea. Another tradition suggests he preached the gospel in what is now modern-day Georgia.

The tradition is that he died by crucifixion in 80AD. One source says this was in at the Roman fortress at Gonio, in the modern Georgian region of Adjara, while another source says he died in Sebastopolis in modern-day Turkey.

It is claimed that St Matthias's remains were brought to Italy through Empress Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, and are interred partly in the Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua, and partly at the Abbey of St. Matthias in Trier in Germany. 

St Matthias is the patron saint of tailors, carpenters, people with smallpox and those struggling with alcoholism. On this his feast day as pray for all who are sick and those facing alcoholism or other addictions, let us also remember the country of Georgia, as it’s people struggle to find its future political direction. 

Picture above is St Matthias by Peter Paul Rubens - http://www.artbible.info/art/topics/rubens-apostles-series, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32560025