What you need to know about St Matthew the Apostole on Patron Saint of Bankers Day
Today, 21 September, is St Matthew the Apostle's day. This may have passed most of you by, but if you work in the City it's more relevant than you realise – St Matthew is the patron saint of bankers.
Here are three things you need to know about St Matthew, in case talk of him comes up around the all important coffee machine or you need to make a scramble for small-talk when you end up stood by a colleague in the queue at Pret.
1. Tax collector
Although he was the patron saint of bankers (as well as accountants and financial professionals in general), St Matthew was actually a tax collector.
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2. Tax collectors weren't exactly popular
Brace yourselves, City folk, for we have bad news: because he was a tax collector, St Matthew wasn't very popular.
Tax collecting was a hated profession during the time of Christ (though someone had to do it, eh?), because collectors were viewed as working for the Roman enemy and therefore robbing their own people.
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3. New Testament
St Matthew was one of Jesus' 12 apostles and his book is the first of four in the New Testament.