Juvenal of Narni

Saint Juvenal is venerated as the first bishop of the city of Narni in Umbria. Little is known with certainty about his life, and the Church remembers him on 3 May as a bishop and confessor, sometimes also called a martyr.

A life of him written after the seventh century and of little historical value says that he was born in Africa, was ordained by Pope Damasus I, was the first bishop of Narni and was buried at the upper gate on the Via Flaminia on 7 August, though his feast was kept on 3 May. The life does not call him a martyr but a confessor, and the martyrologies of Florus of Lyon and of Ado also describe him as a bishop and confessor. Saint Gregory the Great, in his Dialogues and in his homilies on the Gospel, speaks of a bishop of Narni named Juvenal and calls him a martyr. The title of martyr, however, was sometimes given to bishops who had not necessarily died for their faith. Gregory also mentions a tomb of his at Narni.

The legend says that he saved Narni from Ligurian and Sarmatian invaders by calling down a storm sent by God. The building of his tomb at Narni is attributed to his successor, Saint Maximus (died 416). A life of Pope Vigilius in the Liber Pontificalis says that a monastery founded by Belisarius near Orte was dedicated to him.

In 878 his relics were taken to the basilica of San Frediano at Lucca, together with those of Saint Cassius and his wife Fausta, by Adalbert, Margrave of Tuscany, but were returned to Narni two years later. The relics are said to have been hidden. Fossano claims him as a patron and says it has some of his relics, though these may belong to another saint of the same name.

The Gelasian Sacramentary has a prayer in his honour on 3 May. Juvenal is still honoured at Narni, where on the second Sunday of May the Corsa all'anello is held in his memory. Since 1969 he is no longer in the General Roman Calendar, but he remains in the Roman Martyrology.