Feast of St.. Matthias

 

After the Ascension, the first order of business for the Apostles was to pick a replacement for Judas to bring the number back up to twelve. They narrowed the choice down to Matthias or Barsabbas (who you may remember from yesterday's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles). Matthias got the nod.

Relics of St. Matthias ended up split between the Basillica of Mary Major in Rome and in what became St. Matthias Abbey in Trier, Germany (above). The relics were held originally in Jerusalem after his martyrdom (stoned to death)in what is now Georgia (the country, not the state), but St. Helena supposedly changed that - although I'm not sure WHY she thought that was a good idea.