Matthew was a noble knight of Agnetz, near Clermont, known for his calm and goodness.
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March 27
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Martyr
Matthew was a noble knight of Agnetz, near Clermont, known for his calm and goodness. He joined the Crusade to recover the Holy Sepulchre (Christ's tomb in Jerusalem) with the bishop of Beauvais, and was respected at the court of Alexis in Constantinople.
Captured by Saracen (Muslim) forces, he was offered his life if he gave up his faith. He asked to answer on Friday, and then said he had only wanted to die on the day Christ died for him. He knelt and was beheaded.
Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 194 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.
Matthew was a knight of noble birth, of Agnetz, near Clermont, in Beauvais.
Keep their day. Remember them on March 27 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.
Matthew was a knight of noble birth, of Agnetz, near Clermont, in Beauvais. He was a model of purity, sincerity, and piety, ever calm, and never giving way to petulance, or agitated by passion. He took the cross and went to the East to fight for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre, with the bishop of Beauvais. At the court of Alexis, in Constantinople, he was greatly respected. Having been made prisoner by the Saracens [medieval Christian name for Arab and Muslim peoples], he was offered his life if he would renounce the cross of Christ. He asked to be allowed to delay his reply till the following Friday. On that day he was again urged to adopt their religion. He replied, "I asked you to grant me this delay, not because I had any doubt as to what my decision would be, but that I might have the honour and felicity of shedding my blood on the same day as my Saviour Jesus Christ bled for me. Come then, strike me! I give my life to Him who laid down His for mankind." So saying he knelt and stretched forth his neck for the blow, and with one stroke was decapitated.
Feast: March 27
One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Matthew of Beauvais's story, and a nudge to keep going.
From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.
