Although he was already an outstanding knight, he was a singularly
expert warrior, but entirely free from sexual vice. He was
well-known at the court of Alexis, the emperor of Constantinople, for
he often traveled in his service. To consider his manner of living:
although he had been blessed with wealth by fortune, he was
considered to be unusually generous in giving alms; he attended
divine services so regularly that he seemed to lead a life more like
that of a bishop than a knight. When I recall his steadfast prayer,
his pious words, and his generosity in giving gifts, I am extremely
pleased with his holy purpose, but also with my own good fortune in
having known him. I witnessed him perform acts that entitled him to
nothing less than a martyr's death. I certainly take pride, as all
those who were able to know him may take pride, in having known him,
since I do not presume to say that I was his friend. Whoever saw him
knew without a doubt that he had seen martyr. Captured by the pagans,
who demanded that he renounce the Christian faith, he asked these
unbelievers to delay until the sixth day of the week. They readily
agreed, thinking that his stubbornness would be altered, and when the
day arrived, and the Gentiles in their madness pressed him to agree
to their demand, he is reported to have said, "If you think that I
have put off the sword hanging above my head because I wanted to
enjoy a few more days alive, and not because I wanted to die on the
day on which my Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, then it is fitting
that I give evidence of how a Christian mind thinks. Get up, then,
and kill me for the example that you want, so that I may restore my
soul to him for whom I die, who on this day gave his own life for
mankind." Having said this, he stretched his neck out to the sword
that hung over him, and when his head was cut off, he was carried to
God, whose death he had longed to imitate. His name was Matthew, as
his name indicates, "given to God."