From the Prologue of Ochrid
Matthew, son of Alphaeus, was at first a tax collector (that is, a tax farmer and collector, or publican), and as such the Lord saw him in Capernaum and called him: *Follow me. And he arose and followed Him* (Matt. 9:9). After this Matthew prepared a reception for the Lord in his house, and there gave occasion for the Lord to declare several great truths about His coming to earth. After receiving the Holy Spirit, holy Matthew preached the Gospel in Parthia, Media, and Ethiopia, the land of black people. In Ethiopia he appointed as bishop a certain Plato, his follower, while he himself withdrew into prayerful solitude in the mountains, where the Lord appeared to him. He baptized the wife and son of the prince of that land, for which reason the prince became very angry and sent a guard to bring Matthew to him for judgment. The soldiers went and returned to the prince saying that they heard Matthew's voice but could in no way see him with their eyes. Then the prince sent another guard. When this guard also approached the apostle, he was enveloped by heavenly light, so powerful that the soldiers could not look at him, but filled with fear they threw down their weapons and returned. Then the prince himself went. As he approached Saint Matthew, such a radiance shone from him that the prince suddenly went blind. But the holy apostle was merciful of heart: he prayed to God, and the prince received his sight – alas, he received sight only with his bodily eyes but not with his spiritual ones. He seized Saint Matthew and subjected him to cruel tortures. Namely, twice they kindled a great fire on his chest. But the Lord's power preserved him alive and unharmed. Then the apostle prayed to God and gave up his spirit to God. The prince commanded that the martyr's body be placed in a lead coffin and thrown into the sea. The saint appeared to Bishop Plato and told him about his body and the coffin, where it was located. The bishop went and brought up the coffin with Matthew's body. Seeing this new miracle, the prince was baptized and received the name Matthew. Then the prince abandoned all worldly vanity and received priestly rank, and served the Church in a God-pleasing manner. When Plato died, the Apostle Matthew appeared to this Matthew and counseled him to accept the episcopacy. And so he accepted the episcopacy and was a good shepherd for many years, until the Lord called him into His immortal Kingdom. The holy Apostle Matthew wrote his Gospel in the Hebrew language, which was soon translated into Greek, and reached us in Greek, while the Hebrew version was lost. Of this Evangelist it is said that he never ate meat but nourished himself with vegetables and fruit.
