Poem for the Feast of the Apostle Matthias

Sometimes in the Byzantine Tradition we celebrate many things at once. It makes setting up for the services rather complicated, because the liturgical typikon (instruction manual for the daily liturgical services) prescribes that we pray particular sections of the texts for each of the things we are celebrating, but it is a joy to celebrate them all! Today is the 10th Sunday after Pentecost, so we celebrate the Resurrection with joy as we do every Sunday, and it falls during the post-festive period of the Transfiguration, so we continue to celebrate this great feast, and it is the feast of the Apostle Matthias! In honor of St. Matthias, here is a poem written by Sr. Natalia. Enjoy!

Fear of Being Chosen

O Matthias, what did you think,

what did you feel,

when you were beckoned forward?

Did your heart race at the idea

of joining ranks with those eleven?

Eleven different types of broken,

all seeking to be whole.

Did you fear the possibility

of secret brokenness revealed?

And did you also feel

the thrill of sure adventure,

after having seen the ups and downs

of the men whose eyes were now on you?

You’d seen their pain, their dying,

and in your heart felt a pull.

One thing you must have known,

known without a doubt:

being witness to the resurrection

would mean a life of miracles.

And when you heard your name called out,

and reality sunk in,

did you feel that joyful pain of knowing

that all now know that you are His?

Did your thoughts bounce back and forth

between death and resurrection?

And did you steal one more glance

at Joseph Barsabbas

and wonder, “Why not him?”