Juvenal of Narni

Triptych of St. Juvenalis of Narni by Masaccio

Oratory of St. Cassius and tomb of St. Juvenalis in Narni

Saint Juvenal of Narni (also Saint Juvenalis or San Giovenale ) († August 7, 377 in Narni ) was, according to tradition, the first bishop of Narni in Umbria .

Life

Not much is known reliably about Juvenal's life. According to tradition, he was a doctor and came from North Africa. He was probably the first bishop of Narni in 369. According to legend, it was consecrated by Pope Damasus I.

Pope Gregory the Great describes Juvenal as a martyr in Dialogues (IV, 12) and mentions his grave in Narni. The oratory of St. Cassius († 558), one of his successors as bishop, in today's Cathedral of San Giovenale also contains Juvenal's tomb. The Margrave of Tuscany Adalbert forcibly transferred Juvenal's relics to Lucca and Rome in 878 . But they came back to Narni after two years, because storms and epidemics among people and cattle were viewed as punishment for the robbery. The tomb of St. Juvenalis was walled up and later forgotten; it was only exposed again in 1642 at the time of Urban VIII .

Juvenal's feast day is May 3rd, the traditional day of his ordination as bishop.

literature

• Heinrich Wüscher-Becchi: The Oratorio of St. Cassius and the grave of St. Juvenalis in Narni In: Roman quarterly for Christian antiquity and church history , Vol. 25, 1 (1911), pp. 61-71 ( online )
• Joachim Schäfer: Article Juvenal von Narni , from the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints , accessed on December 9, 2016.