From Acts i. 21. See Tillemont, t. 1, p. 406. Henschenius, p. 434.
ST. CLEMENT of Alexandria[1] assures us, from tradition, that this saint
was one of the seventy-two disciples, which is confirmed by Eusebius[2]
and St. Jerom;[3] and we learn from the Acts[4] of the apostles, that he
was a constant attendant on our Lord, from the time of his baptism by
St. John to his ascension. St. Peter having, in a general assembly of
the faithful held soon after, declared from holy scripture, the
necessity of choosing a twelfth apostle, in the room of Judas; two were
unanimously pitched upon by the assembly, as most worthy of the dignity,
Joseph, called Barsabas, and, on account of his extraordinary piety,
surnamed the Just, and Matthias. After devout prayer to God, that he
would direct them in their choice, they proceeded in {454} it by way of
lot, which falling by the divine direction on Matthias, he was
accordingly associated with the eleven, and ranked among the apostles.
When in deliberations each side appears equally good, or each candidate
of equally approved merit, lots may be sometimes lawfully used;
otherwise, to commit a thing of importance to such a chance, or to
expect a miraculous direction of divine providence in it, would be a
criminal superstition and a tempting of God, except he himself, by an
evident revelation or inspiration, should appoint such a means for the
manifestation of his will, promising his supernatural interposition in
it, which was the case on this extraordinary occasion. The miraculous
dreams or lots, which we read of in the prophets, must no ways authorize
any rash superstitious use of such means in others who have not the like
authority.
* * * * *
We justly admire the virtue of this holy assembly of saints. Here were
no solicitations or intrigues. No one presented himself to the dignity.
Ambition can find no place in a virtuous or humble heart. He who seeks a
dignity either knows himself unqualified, and is on this account guilty
of the most flagrant injustice with regard to the public, by desiring a
charge to which he is no ways equal: or he thinks himself qualified for
it, and this self-conceit and confidence in his own abilities renders
him the most unworthy of all others. Such a disposition deprives a soul
of the divine assistance, without which we can do nothing; for God
withdraws his grace and refuses his blessing where self-sufficiency and
pride have found any footing. It is something of a secret confidence in
ourselves, and a presumption that we deserve the divine succor, which
banishes him from us. This is true even in temporal undertakings; but
much more so in the charge of souls, in which all success is more
particularly the special work of the Holy Ghost, not the fruit of human
industry. These two holy candidates were most worthy of the apostleship,
because perfectly humble, and because they looked upon that dignity with
trembling, though they considered its labors, dangers, and persecutions
with holy joy, and with a burning zeal for the glory of God. No regard
was had to worldly talents, none to flesh and blood. God was consulted
by prayer, because no one is to be assumed to his ministry who is not
called by him, and who does not enter it by the door,[5] and with the
undoubted marks of his vocation. Judas's misfortune filled St. Matthias
with the greater humility and fervor, lest he also should fall. We
Gentiles are called upon the disinherison of the Jews, and are ingrafted
on their stock.[6] We ought therefore to learn to stand always in
watchfulness and fear, or we shall be also cut off ourselves, to give
place to others whom God will call in our room, and even compel to
enter, rather than spare us. The number of his elect depends not on us.
His infinite mercy has invited us without any merit on our side; but if
we are ungrateful, he can complete his heavenly city without us, and
will certainly make our reprobation the most dreadful example of his
justice, to all eternity. The greater the excess of his goodness and
clemency has been towards us, the more dreadful will be the effects of
his vengeance. _Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall
sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God; but the
sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth_.[7]
St. Matthias received the Holy Ghost with the rest soon after his
election; and after the dispersion of the disciples, applied himself
with zeal to the functions of his apostleship, in converting nations to
the faith. He is recorded by St. Clement of Alexandria,[8] to have been
remarkable for inculcating the necessity of the mortification of the
flesh with regard to all {455} its sensual and irregular desires, an
important lesson he had received from Christ, and which he practised
assiduously on his own flesh. The tradition of the Greeks in their
menologies tells us that St: Matthias planted the faith about Cappadocia
and on the coasts of the Caspian sea, residing chiefly near the port
Issus. He must have undergone great hardships and labors amidst so
savage a people. The same authors add that he received the crown of
martyrdom in Colchis, which they call AEthiopia. The Latins keep his
festival on the 24th of February. Some portions of his relics are shown
in the abbatical church of Triers, and in that of St. Mary Major in
Rome, unless these latter belong to another Matthias, who was one of the
first bishops of Jerusalem: on which see the Bollandists.
As the call of St. Matthias, so is ours purely the work of God, and his
most gratuitous favor and mercy. What thanks, what fidelity and love do
we not owe him for this inestimable grace! When he decreed to call us to
his holy faith, cleanse us from sin, and make us members of his
spiritual kingdom, and heirs of his glory, he saw nothing in us which
could determine him to such a predilection. We were infected with sin,
and could have no title to the least favor, when God said to us, _I have
loved Jacob_: when he distinguished us from so many millions who perish
in the blindness of infidelity and sin, drew us out of the mass of
perdition, and bestowed on us the grace of his adoption, and all the
high privileges that are annexed to this dignity. In what transports of
love and gratitude ought we not, without intermission, to adore his
infinite goodness to us, and beg that we may be always strengthened by
his grace to advance continually in humility and his holy love, lest, by
slackening our pace in his service, we fall from this state of
happiness, forfeit this sublime grace, and perish with Judas. Happy
would the church be, if all converts were careful to maintain themselves
in the same fervor in which they returned to God. But by a neglect to
watch over themselves, and to shun dangers, and by falling into sloth,
they often relapse into a condition much worse than the former.
Footnotes:
1. Strom. l. 4, p. 488.
2. L. 1, c. {1}.
3. In Catal.
4. C. i. 21.
5. Jo. x. 1.
6. Rom. xi. 12.
7. Matt. viii. 11.
8. Strom. l. 3, p. 436.