diff --git a/spacy/en/__init__.py b/spacy/en/__init__.py
index 5bf83a253..c81630a72 100644
--- a/spacy/en/__init__.py
+++ b/spacy/en/__init__.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ from ..syntax.arc_eager import ArcEager
 from ..syntax.ner import BiluoPushDown
 from ..syntax.parser import ParserFactory
 from ..serialize.bits import BitArray
+from ..matcher import Matcher
 
 from ..tokens import Doc
 from ..multi_words import RegexMerger
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ class English(object):
       Tagger=EnPosTagger,
       Parser=ParserFactory(ParserTransitionSystem),
       Entity=ParserFactory(EntityTransitionSystem),
+      Matcher=Matcher.from_dir,
       Packer=None,
       load_vectors=True
     ):
@@ -113,6 +115,10 @@ class English(object):
             self.entity = Entity(self.vocab.strings, path.join(data_dir, 'ner'))
         else:
             self.entity = None
+        if Matcher:
+            self.matcher = Matcher(self.vocab, data_dir)
+        else:
+            self.matcher = None
         if Packer:
             self.packer = Packer(self.vocab, data_dir)
         else:
@@ -143,6 +149,8 @@ class English(object):
         tokens = self.tokenizer(text)
         if self.tagger and tag:
             self.tagger(tokens)
+        if self.matcher and entity:
+            self.matcher(tokens)
         if self.parser and parse:
             self.parser(tokens)
         if self.entity and entity:
diff --git a/spacy/matcher.pyx b/spacy/matcher.pyx
index b1b77e162..ab3ef354b 100644
--- a/spacy/matcher.pyx
+++ b/spacy/matcher.pyx
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from os import path
+
 from .typedefs cimport attr_t
 from .attrs cimport attr_id_t
 from .structs cimport TokenC
@@ -5,11 +7,16 @@ from .structs cimport TokenC
 from cymem.cymem cimport Pool
 from libcpp.vector cimport vector
 
-from .attrs cimport LENGTH, ENT_TYPE
+from .attrs cimport LENGTH, ENT_TYPE, ORTH, NORM, LEMMA, LOWER, SHAPE
 from .tokens.doc cimport get_token_attr
 from .tokens.doc cimport Doc
 from .vocab cimport Vocab
 
+try:
+    import ujson as json
+except ImportError:
+    import json
+
 
 cdef struct AttrValue:
     attr_id_t attr
@@ -58,18 +65,61 @@ cdef object get_entity(const Pattern* pattern, const TokenC* tokens, int i):
     return (pattern.spec[0].value, i - pattern.spec[1].value, i)
 
 
+def _convert_strings(token_specs, string_store):
+    converted = []
+    for spec in token_specs:
+        converted.append([])
+        for attr, value in spec.items():
+            if isinstance(attr, basestring):
+                attr = map_attr_name(attr)
+            if isinstance(value, basestring):
+                value = string_store[value]
+            converted[-1].append((attr, value))
+    return converted
+    
+
+def map_attr_name(attr):
+    attr = attr.upper()
+    if attr == 'ORTH':
+        return ORTH
+    elif attr == 'LEMMA':
+        return LEMMA
+    elif attr == 'LOWER':
+        return LOWER
+    elif attr == 'SHAOE':
+        return SHAPE
+    elif attr == 'NORM':
+        return NORM
+    else:
+        raise Exception("TODO: Finish supporting attr mapping %s" % attr)
+
+
 cdef class Matcher:
     cdef Pool mem
     cdef Pattern** patterns
     cdef readonly int n_patterns
 
-    def __init__(self, patterns):
+    def __init__(self, vocab, patterns):
         self.mem = Pool()
         self.patterns = <Pattern**>self.mem.alloc(len(patterns), sizeof(Pattern*))
-        for i, (token_specs, entity_type) in enumerate(patterns):
-            self.patterns[i] = init_pattern(self.mem, token_specs, entity_type)
+        for i, (entity_key, (etype, attrs, specs)) in enumerate(sorted(patterns.items())):
+            if isinstance(entity_key, basestring):
+                entity_key = vocab.strings[entity_key]
+            if isinstance(etype, basestring):
+                etype = vocab.strings[etype]
+            specs = _convert_strings(specs, vocab.strings)
+            self.patterns[i] = init_pattern(self.mem, specs, etype)
         self.n_patterns = len(patterns)
 
+    @classmethod
+    def from_dir(cls, vocab, data_dir):
+        patterns_loc = path.join(data_dir, 'ner', 'patterns.json')
+        if path.exists(patterns_loc):
+            patterns = json.loads(open(patterns_loc))
+            return cls(vocab, patterns)
+        else:
+            return cls(vocab, {})
+
     def __call__(self, Doc doc):
         cdef vector[Pattern*] partials
         cdef int n_partials = 0