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Matthew (21.9.) Tradition has it that Matthew was a certain Levi son of Alfeo the tax collector and one of the 12 Apostles even if the new exegesis distinguishes between the figure of Levi, Matthew Apostle and Matthew Evangelist. We know little of his life. According to the legend he left Palestine around the year 42 and preached mainly to the Parths, in Persia and in Ethiopia where he suffered martyrdom; he was most probably stoned or burned at the stake. It is believed his reliquiae were first transported to Pesto and then in the 10th century to Salerno where they should still be today in the Duomo, since 1084. He is the patron saint of tax collectors, financers, customs agents, exchange agents and accountants; he protects against the vice of drinking.