Matthew

fter Jesus ascended into Heaven, his 12 apostles preached the Gospel in various regions of the Middle East and Europe. According to tradition, St. Matthew traveled to Ethiopia where he discovered sorcerers who were causing trouble in a Christian community.

The episode is narrated in the Golden Legend, and explains how Matthew visited the eunuch of Queen Candace, the same court official who was baptized by St. Philip and featured in the book of Acts (see Acts 8).

Shortly after his arrival a sorcerer walked into town “with two dragons, which belched forth sulfurous fire from mouth and nostrils and killed many people.”

Not afraid of the dragons, St. Matthew went out to encounter them