. Historical details regarding Juvenal's life are limited. A biography of Juvenal of little historical value, written after the seventh century, states that Juvenal was born in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, was ordained by
Pope Damasus I
Pope Damasus I (; c. 305 – 11 December 384) was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death. He presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list of sacred scripture. He spoke out against major heresies ( ...
, was the first bishop of Narni, and was buried in the Porta Superiore on the
Via Flaminia
The Via Flaminia or Flaminian Way was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had ...
on August 7, though his feast day was celebrated on May 3.
This ''Vita'' does not call him a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
but calls him a
confessor
Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways.
Confessor of the Faith
Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.
The martyrologies of
Florus of Lyon Florus of Lyon ( la, Florus Lugdunensis), a deacon in Lyon, was an ecclesiastical writer in the first half of the ninth century. A theologian, canonist, liturgist, and poet, he ran the scriptorium at Lyons. He was considered one of the foremost auth ...
and Ado describe Juvenal as a bishop and confessor rather than as a martyr.
Saint Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...
, in his ''Dialogues'' (IV, 12) and ''Homiliae in Evangelium'', speaks of a bishop of Narni named Juvenal, and describes him as a martyr. The title of martyr, though, was sometimes given to bishops who did not necessarily die for their faith. Gregory also mentions a
sepulcher
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immuremen ...
associated with Juvenal at
Narni
Narni (in Latin, Narnia) is an ancient hilltown and ''comune'' of Umbria, in central Italy, with 19,252 inhabitants (2017). At an altitude of 240 m (787 ft), it overhangs a narrow gorge of the Nera River in the province of Terni. ...
.
Veneration
The ''Gelasian Sacramentary'' has a prayer in honor of the saint under May 3. The ''Codex Bernense'' of the ''
Martyrologium Hieronymianum
The ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'' (meaning "martyrology of Jerome") or ''Martyrologium sancti Hieronymi'' (meaning "martyrology of Saint Jerome") is an ancient martyrology or list of Christian martyrs in calendar order, one of the most used a ...
'' records his name under May 3 with those of three martyrs of the
Via Nomentana
Via Nomentana is an ancient road of Italy, leading North-East from Rome to Nomentum (modern Mentana), a distance of . It originally bore the name "Via Ficulensis", from the old Latin village of Ficulea, about from Rome. It was subsequently extend ...
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome
* Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...
, and Theodulus.
Saint Juvenal appears, not as a martyr, but as a bishop and confessor, in the Tridentine Calendar, which allots him a
commemoration
Commemoration may refer to:
*Commemoration (Anglicanism), a religious observance in Churches of the Anglican Communion
*Commemoration (liturgy), insertion in one liturgy of portions of another
*Memorialization
*"Commemoration", a song by the 3rd a ...
shared with these three martyrs within the feast of the Finding of the Cross on May 3. When this feast was abolished in 1960, the four saints continued to be merely commemorated jointly within the celebration of the
weekday
The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most of th ...
. The same day continues to be Saint Juvenal's feast day, as indicated in the
Roman Martyrology
The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved ...
,''Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 ) but since 1969, he is no longer included in the
General Roman Calendar
The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgical rite is in use. These celebra ...
.
His legend suggests that he saved Narni from both Ligurian and
Sarmatian
The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples of classical ant ...
invaders by calling down a divine thunderstorm.
The construction of Juvenal's sepulcher in Narni is attributed to his alleged successor, St. Maximus (d. 416 AD).
The author of the ''Life'' of
Pope Vigilius
Pope Vigilius (died 7 June 555) was the bishop of Rome from 29 March 537 to his death. He is considered the first pope of the Byzantine papacy. Born into Roman aristocracy, Vigilius served as a deacon and papal ''apocrisiarius'' in Constantino ...
(sixth century) in the ''Liber Pontificalis'' states that a monastery founded by
Belisarius
Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terri ...
near
Orte
Orte is a town, ''comune'', former Catholic bishopric and Latin titular see in the province of Viterbo, in the central Italian region of Lazio, located about north of Rome and about east of Viterbo.
Geography
Orte is situated in the Tiber vall ...
was dedicated to Juvenal.
In 878, Juvenal's relics were taken to the
Basilica di San Frediano
The Basilica of San Frediano is a Romanesque church in Lucca, Italy, situated on the ''Piazza San Frediano''.
History
Fridianus (Frediano) was an Irish bishop of Lucca in the first half of the 6th century. He had a church built on this spot ...
in
Lucca
Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957.
Lucca is known as one o ...
with those of Saints Cassius and Cassius' wife Fausta by
Adalbert
Adalbert is a German given name which means "noble bright" or "noble shining", derived from the words ''adal'' (meaning noble) and ''berht'' (shining or bright). Alternative spellings include Adelbart, Adelbert and Adalberto. Derivative names inclu ...
,
Margrave of Tuscany
The rulers of Tuscany varied over time, sometimes being margraves, the rulers of handfuls of border counties and sometimes the heads of the most important family of the region.
Margraves of Tuscany, 812–1197 House of Boniface
:These were origin ...
, but all of the relics were returned to Narni two years later. The relics of Saint Cassius were built in a restored shrine later known as the Sacello di San Cassio. Juvenal's relics are said to have been hidden.
Fossano
Fossano ( pms, Fossan) is a town and ''comune'' of Piedmont, northern Italy. It is the fourth largest town of the Province of Cuneo, after Cuneo, Alba and Bra.
It lies on the main railway line from Turin to Cuneo and to Savona, and has a branch li ...
claims Juvenal as a patron and also claims to hold some of his relics, though these may belong to another saint of the same name.