St Juvenal (3rd May)

Narni became a diocese in the 4th century, and the legend of St Juvenal, its first bishop,  is reasonably reliable.

St Juvenal may have been born in Carthage and was probably appointed as bishop by Pope Damasus I.  He arrived in Narni in 369 and is reputed to have performed numerous miracles there, winning over 2,000 converts in a single day.  He died in ca. 376 and was interred on the site of the present Duomo, which is dedicated to him.   There seems to have been an oratory on the site with this dedication from a very early date.   The ancient church of San Giovenale in Orvieto , and others of  that dedication at Orte, Magliano and Vallerano, speak to the widespread popularity of the cult of St Juvenal.

According to the "Dialogues" of St Gregory, St Juvenal appeared posthumously to the dying St Probus, Bishop of Rieti in ca. 570.  However, this St Juvenal is described as a martyr: this was either a mistake or a reference to another, otherwise unknown, martyr named Juvenal.