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 Vatican City stamps featuring Saint Matthew: From the Evangelists Airmail Set, Scott C55 (1971) Beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, Scott 521 (1972) International Peace Year (Matthew 5:9), Scott 770 (1986) Evangelists Vending Machine Set, Scott V11 (2002) The Feast of Saint Matthew is celebrated on September 21. Matthew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and, according to Christian tradition, one of the four Evangelists as the author of the Gospel of Matthew. The four stamps shown at the top of the article are parts of sets issued to honor the four Evangelists, the others being Luke, Mark and John. Matthew was a publican (tax collector) who worked for the Roman administrators in Capernaum. As a tax collector and being of Jewish heritage, he was reviled as a traitor by his fellow Jews. But, he was called by Jesus to be a disciple as described in his gospel (Matthew 9:9), a scene which is portrayed in Caravaggio's masterpiece The Calling of Saint Matthew:  "The Calling of Saint Matthew", by Caravaggio Rusconi (circa 1600) Photo by Gleb Simonov From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication "As Jesus passed on from there, [after healing the paralytic, in Mt. 9:1-8] he saw a man called Matthew sitting in a tax office and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him."In Matthew 9:13, Jesus was then questioned by the Pharisees as to why he would sit with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus’ reply was: "For I came not to call the righteous but sinners."Matthew is believed to have evangelized in Syria and Ethiopia, and both are suggested as the location where he was martyred. His relics were relocated to Sicily by Robert Giscard (d. 1085), a Norman adventurer who established control of southern Italy and Sicily. His shrine is at the Salerno Cathedral in southern Italy, which is dedicated to Saint Matthew and whose relics are found inside the crypt. The Gospel of Matthew was written in the second half of the first century. It is often thought to have been drawn from the Gospel of St. Mark. Matthew is referred to as Levi by both Mark and Luke. Both St. Irenaeus (d. 202 AD), the Bishop of Lyons and Doctor of the Church (originally from Smyrna with ties to the Apostles or those who heard their preachings) and St. Jerome (d. 420), substantiate Matthew as the writer of the Gospel that bears his name.  "Saint Matthew", by Camillo Rusconi (circa 1715) Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license Saint Matthew is depicted widely in Christian art. Shown above is the statue of Saint Matthew which is found in the nave of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome. The statue portrays Matthew with a book, symbolic of his role as an evangelist, whiles standing on a bag of coins, calling to mind his past role as a tax collector. Also in Rome, in the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi (Saint Louis of the French), are three paintings by Caravaggio depicting events from the life of Saint Matthew. "The Calling of Saint Matthew" is shown above. The second, "The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew", was used for the souvenir sheet shown below, issued for the 450th anniversary of the birth of Caravaggio, and the third is entitled "The Inspiration of Saint Matthew". The three paintings, executed between 1599 and 1602, were part of Caravaggio's first major commission in Rome.  "Martyrdom of Saint Matthew" by Carravaggio Scott 1776 (2021) REFERENCES: |
