Narnus

Narnus is venerated as the first bishop of Bergamo, in Italy. According to tradition he was consecrated by the apostle Barnabas, though he probably lived later. He is venerated in the Catholic Church and commemorated on 27 August. He died, according to a Russian source, in the year 345.

The oldest source that speaks of Narnus is from the thirteenth century and was written by the friar Branca da Gandino. He considers him bishop of Bergamo in the time of Diocletian, so in the fourth century. Tradition links him with Barnabas, an apostle of the Seventy. It is believed that he helped Saint Grata in raising a place of worship.

He was buried at Bergamo, in the crypt of a church dedicated to Saint Alexander of Bergamo. When the church was demolished, in 1561, the relics of Narnus, together with those of his successor, Saint Viator, were moved to the church of San Vincenzo, today the cathedral of Bergamo, where they rest still.

On the day of his commemoration it was the custom to drink water from a spring near the church, to which popular belief attributed healing power.