Frei Manuel de Sao Matias was a rector at the Church of St Thomas the Apostle at Aldona, Goa. He is said to have commenced his preaching activities before 1595. He worked in various places in India and Ceylon ( Sri Lanka). He was very keen that Friars learn the local languages to be able to communicate well with the population. When he was the Guardian of the Colombo Friary, he established the language school and insisted that all Friars based in and around the Colombo area to learn Sinhalese.