The Life of Saint Fulvianus Matthew, Prince and Bishop of Ethiopia

The following is the Life of Saint Fulvianus Matthew, Prince and Bishop of Ethiopia, with most of the information coming from a Russian translation.

Saint Fulvianus Matthew

In Mirmeni, Ethiopia, lived a prince of one tribe named Fulvianus. The wife and son of this prince were suffered greatly from demonic possession. The Apostle Matthew was given a stick by the Angel of the Lord, and was directed to plant the rod in Ethiopia. When he arrived in Mirmeni, he appointed his companion, Plato, to be the Bishop of this land. Saint Matthew then placed the wonderworking stick near a Church, and the rod immediately grew into a large tree with beautiful fruit, and from its root flowed pure and miraculous water. The first to receive healing from this source were Fulvianus’s wife and son, who then received baptism in this very oasis. At first, Prince Fulvianus rejoiced at the healing of his wife and son, but then, attributing the miraculous power of the tree and the water to sorcery by the holy Apostle Matthew, he began to persecute him. In order to take the Apostle Matthew, who was hiding in one particular Church, Fulvianus sent his soldiers to the parish twice. At first, the soldiers could not capture the Apostle because darkness enveloped them, and they barely returned safely to Fulvianus. The enraged Fulvianus sent more soldiers to kidnap the Apostle Matthew, but they were illumined with such heavenly light that, dwelling in their impiety, they were blinded, could not see the holy Apostle, and returned to Fulvianus without him. After that, Fulvianus himself, with a multitude of soldiers, set out to capture the holy Apostle Matthew, but he was struck by blindness. He suffered this ailment until the holy Apostle Matthew offered his prayers to the Lord for his healing. However, having gotten rid of his physical blindness, Fulvianus was still blinded spiritually, and, considering the miracles of the Apostle as magic, he planned to deceitfully destroy him. Pretending as if honoring him, Fulvianus took him by the hand and led him to his chambers. But when he brought him to the chambers, he ordered the soldiers to firmly nail the apostle to the ground and, overlaid with wood, brushwood and poured pitch, to light it, but the fire did not harm the holy apostle. Then Fulvianus ordered that twelve golden idols be brought and placed around the fire. The flames rushed towards the idols, and they melted like wax and spread around the fire. Seeing this, Fulvianus wanted to lead the holy Apostle Matthew out of the flames, but the apostle had already given up his soul to God. After this Fulvianus laid the body of the holy apostle on a rich bed, covered it with precious garments; but, still not quite sure of the miraculous power of the apostle, he ordered the body of the apostle to be put in an iron coffin, tightly sealed with tin, and thrown into the sea. At that time Fulvianus made the following vow: “If the One who kept Matthew unharmed from the fire does not allow him to perish in the sea, then truly He is the One God and we will worship Him — we will reject all our gods who could not even keep themselves from the fire.” On that same night, the holy Apostle Matthew appeared to Bishop Plato of Mirmeni and said: “In the morning, go to the seashore and retrieve my relics, which have washed ashore.” When Fulvianus was notified of this, he with his nobles went to the shore and loudly confessed Jesus Christ as God. After this, Fulvianus asked the holy Apostle Matthew to forgive him for the sins he had committed, and also wished to sincerely accept Holy Baptism and asked Bishop Plato about this. When Fulvianus was lowered into the water by Bishop Plato, laying his hand on his head, wanted to call him by name, then a voice was heard from above: “Call not Fulvianus, but Matthew!” So Fulvianus was now given the name of the very Apostle whom he martyred, and the same Apostle who converted him.

Upon receiving Baptism, Saint Fulvianus, with the name Matthew, carefully tried to imitate the deeds of the Apostle for whom he was named. He soon gave up his reign as prince and fervently devoted himself to charity work and fervent prayer at the temple of God. Bishop Plato ordained him to the priesthood. Three years after accepting the priesthood, Saint Fulvianus Matthew, was consecrated bishop and served in the place of the deceased Plato. In his new dignity, Saint Fulvianus Matthew labored greatly in the work of preaching and piety. He died not very long after, for he was already in his later years.

His memory is celebrated by the Holy Church on November 16 (November 29 according to the New Calendar).