The feast of St Matthew, also called St. Matthew the Evangelist, St Matthew the Apostle, or Levi, is 21 September. According to Matthew 9:9 and Mark 2:14, Matthew was sitting by the customs house in Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus called him into his company. Matthew had been employed as a tax collector in the service of Herod Antipas. Tax collectors were notorious for being dishonest, greedy individuals. They would often exploit taxpayers by exacting more than was required by the state and pocketing the difference for themselves. Because of Matthew’s occupation the scribes of the Pharisees criticised Jesus when he was seen eating with Matthew. “While he (Jesus) was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He (Jesus) heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” – Matthew 9:10-13
Saint Matthew is the patron saint of bookkeepers and bankers.
The feast of St Vincent de Paul is celebrated on 27 September. Vincent de Paul was the third (of six) child of peasant farmers, born in France on 24 April 1581 and died when aged 79 on 27 September 1660. Vincent demonstrated a talent for literacy early in life. At 15, his father sent him to a seminary, managing to pay for it by selling the family's oxen. Vincent de Paul became a Catholic priest and is primarily recognised for his charity and compassion for the poor, though he is also known for his reform of the clergy and for his early role in opposing Jansenism. After founding the Congregation of the Mission in 1625, Vincent de Paul established in and around Paris the Confraternities of Charity—associations of laywomen who visited, fed, and nursed the sick poor. The wealth of these women, many from noble families, aided him in establishing orphanages and hospitals. With St Louise de Marillac he cofounded the Daughters of Charity (Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul) in 1633, a non cloistered religious institution.
St Vincent de Paul is the patron of all works of charity, horses; hospitals; leprosy; lost articles; prisoners; and spiritual help