Feast of St Matthew the Apostle, 21st September

St Matthew, the son of Alpheus, was likely born in Galilee. The saint worked as a tax collector, which was a hated profession during the time of Christ. According to the Gospel, Matthew was working at a collection booth in Capernaum when Our Lord came to him and said “Follow me” (Matthew 9:9), making of him both disciple and evangelist. Today, his Gospel, standing at the beginning of the New Testament as the first of the Gospels, transmits to us a large part of the sacred record of Our Lord’s life and ministry. As for Matthew’s later history, it is thought that the Saint departed for other lands to escape persecution sometime after 42 AD. According to various legends he fled to Parthia and Persia, or even Ethiopia – establishing a notable connection between this saint and the African continent. St Matthew is honoured as a martyr but the details of his passing are less clear. He is invoked as the patron saint of bankers.