Apostle Saint Matthew, El Greco, c. 1610-1614

Saint Matthew is one of the twelve Apostles.  Early Church Fathers attribute the first Gospel - the Gospel according to St. Matthew - to him unequivocally. 

Saint Matthew is the Patron Saint of tax collectors, accountants, bankers, bookkeepers, customs officers, financial officers, guards, civil servants, moneychangers, money managers, and stockbrokers. 

This Novena to Saint Matthew is from St. Matthew the Apostle Parish in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong.

The Novena in pdf may be downloaded from the Parish here or on this website.

A Novena to Saint Matthew

Opening Prayer 

God of mercy you chose a tax collector, Saint Matthew, to share the dignity of the apostles. By his example and prayers help us to follow Christ and remain faithful in your service. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

Day One 

Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:3). 

Dear Jesus, I have sinned against God and you. I have gone against you and hurt you with each and every sin I have committed. I am not worthy of your love, but you are my only hope. Please save me, and please forgive me, for I am lost without you.

Saint Matthew, as you were one of the lucky twelve who walked the Earth with Jesus by your side, you were continually made aware of your own nothingness before his greatness and saw many evidences of God’s immense grace. Help me to be so poor in spirit that I acknowledge my own nothingness before God on a moment-by-moment basis, and please intercede with Jesus in asking him to grant my desperate request, (State Request).

Amen.

Day Two

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:5). 

Dear Jesus, even though I have committed such grave offenses against you and God, you still loved me enough to give your life for me so I could be free in Heaven. With all my heart, please forgive me for ever having offended you. I know it was my sins that condemned you to die. I love you more than I love myself, and can do nothing without you. All that I am and all that I hope to be is solely because of your grace and mercy and nothing else.

Saint Matthew, as a former tax-collector, you were considered one of the worst sinners, but Jesus called you anyway to be one of his apostles. Help me to truly mourn for all the sins I have committed and please intercede with Jesus in asking him to grant my desperate request, (State Request).

Amen.

Day Three 

Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.” (Matthew 5:4). 

Day Four 

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6).

Dear Jesus, I want to be just like you. Please lead and guide me so I can live my life completely in conformity with the will of God, going contentedly wherever his will takes me. Help me to do everything just as you would.

Saint Matthew, you left behind a very financially lucrative career and the ways of the world to follow Jesus’s way instead. Help me to constantly hunger and thirst for righteousness just as you did, and please intercede with Jesus in asking him to grant my desperate request, (State Request).

Amen.

Sermon on the Mount (Altarpiece, Detail), Henrik Olrik (1830-1890)

Day Five

Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) 

Dear Jesus, thank you for the mercy you have shown me time and time again, even when my actions have not merited it. Thank you for comforting me in times of sickness and trouble. Help me to look at everyone I come across with a tender heart, truly feeling in my heart the pain and suffering of others. Help me to always make the effort to ease the pain and suffering of others, with an ever ready, always affectionate, and joyful heart. 

Saint Matthew, as an apostle, you were an extension of Jesus in the world. You got to see his kindness and mercy displayed first-hand and then were asked to emulate it. Help me to emulate Jesus by demonstrating true kindness and mercy to others, just as Jesus did, and please intercede with Jesus in asking him to grant my desperate request, (State Request).

Amen.

Day Six 

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8).

Dear Jesus, I have so often let you down because of my impure heart; please forgive me. Help me to be pure in my imagination, in my thoughts, in my words, in my decisions, and in my desires. Help me to think how God thinks, desire what God desires, hate what God hates, and love only what God loves. Please make my heart completely free of all evil thoughts. 

Saint Matthew, I know you understand what it means to struggle with maintaining a pure heart because you were a man and struggled with the desires of the flesh just as I do. Help me to remain truly pure in heart, and please intercede with Jesus in asking him to grant my desperate request, (State Request). 

Amen.

Day Seven 

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9). 

Saint Matthew, you made your peace with God through Jesus, now please help me to make mine. Help me also to sow peace wherever I may go, just as you did, as a witness to Jesus Christ, and please intercede with Jesus in asking him to grant my desperate request, (State Request).

Amen.

Day Eight

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:10).

Dear Jesus, please show me how to persevere in this struggle for things which are holy and honourable, because I fall down and grow weak so often. Help me to be faithful to you in all things, so that your will may be done in and through my life. Help me to be bold in my steady struggle for faith and unwavering in my commitment to all Godly things.

Saint Matthew, please guide me to be courageous like you in standing on the side of God’s truth, even in the face of being persecuted for righteousness, and please intercede with Jesus in asking him to grant my desperate request, (State Request). 

Amen.

Day Nine 

Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” (Matthew 5:11). 

Dear Jesus, as the times in which we live become darker and darker, living by your ways and following you is branding me in such a way that invites persecution and insult, just as it did you. If I live by your ways and love you with my whole being, I live by the light and provide a target for those who do not live by the light. Sinning is what gives most people pleasure, but I can no longer live that way, because I am aware of how much you sacrificed for me in love by dying on the cross. For all that you have done for me, I no longer desire to live in the darkness. Each time I receive an insult for belonging to you, please help me to bear it with great patience. 

Saint Matthew, in being given the awesome honour of being chosen to be an apostle, you were persecuted just as Jesus was persecuted. You felt, however, the persecution you experienced was also a great honour, because Jesus was not just a man, but he was indeed God. Help me to be strong enough to love Jesus’s light and to run from the darkness of sin and then, when persecution comes, to be strong enough to handle that as well. And please intercede with Jesus in asking him to grant my desperate request, (State Request). 

Amen. 

St Matthew and the Angel, Vincenzo Campi, 1588

The Calling of Saint Matthew

Matthew 9.9-13 

 9 And when Jesus passed on from hence, he saw a man sitting in the custom house, named Matthew; and he saith to him: Follow me. And he rose up and followed him.

Et, cum transiret inde Jesus, vidit hominem sedentem in telonio, Matthaeum nomine. Et ait illi : Sequere me. Et surgens, secutus est eum.

 10 And it came to pass as he was sitting at meat in the house, behold many publicans and sinners came, and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.

Et factum est, discumbente eo in domo, ecce multi publicani et peccatores venientes, discumbebant cum Jesu, et discipulis ejus.

 11 And the Pharisees seeing it, said to his disciples: Why doth your master eat with publicans and sinners?

Et videntes pharisaei, dicebant discipulis ejus : Quare cum publicanis et peccatoribus manducat magister vester?

 12 But Jesus hearing it, said: They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill.

At Jesus audiens, ait : Non est opus valentibus medicus, sed male habentibus.

 13 Go then and learn what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the just, but sinners.

Euntes autem discite quid est : Misericordiam volo, et non sacrificium. Non enim veni vocare justos, sed peccatores.

The Calling of Saint Matthew, Caravaggio, c. 1599-1600

The Beginning of Christ's Sermon on the Mount - the Beatitudes

Matthew 5.1-12

1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him.

Videns autem Jesus turbas, ascendit in montem, et cum sedisset, accesserunt ad eum discipuli ejus,

 2 And opening his mouth, he taught them, saying:

et aperiens os suum docebat eos dicens:

 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Beati pauperes spiritu : quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum.

 4 Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.

Beati mites : quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram.

 5 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Beati qui lugent : quoniam ipsi consolabuntur.

 6 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.

Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam : quoniam ipsi saturabuntur.

 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Beati misericordes : quoniam ipsi misericordiam consequentur.

 8 Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.

Beati mundo corde : quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt.

 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.

Beati pacifici : quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur.

 10 Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Beati qui persecutionem patiuntur propter justitiam : quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum.

 11 Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake:

Beati estis cum maledixerint vobis, et persecuti vos fuerint, et dixerint omne malum adversum vos mentientes, propter me:

 12 Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.

gaudete, et exsultate, quoniam merces vestra copiosa est in caelis. Sic enim persecuti sunt prophetas, qui fuerunt ante vos.

The Sermon of Jesus on the Mount (Fresco, Church of St. Ulrich in Groden), Franz Xaver Kirchebner, late 18th Century

Immaculate Queen of Peace, pray for us.