The Lives of the Saints through 100 Masterpieces

Matthew

The Lives of the Saints 164 Matthew September 21 Matthew may likely be a surname, since the other evangelists call him more often by the name of Levi. He was the tax collector of Capernaum who abandoned everything to follow the Messiah. And “everything” must have been a considerable amount, judging by the account of the banquet that Levi Matthew gave on this occasion: “a great reception,” writes Saint Luke, “and many publicans and sinners were at table with Jesus and his disciples,” adds Saint Mark. The conversion of this wealthy collaborator of the Roman invaders remains an inexplicable miracle. A simple “Follow me” was enough to wrench him from his account books and weighing scale—a scene impressive enough to have inspired many artists. The banquet that ensued is also often represented, as is, more symbolically, the redaction of the first Gospel, with Matthew writing under the inspiration of angels. Subsequently, the apostle took the Good News to Egypt and Ethiopia, where he was martyred by a tyrannical king; but not before the evangelization of Ethiopia had been accomplished, and the country had become definitively Christian. Theoderic of Prague (active 1348–1380) Saint Matthew Národní Muzeum, Prague ...