Saints Alexander, Eventius & Theodulus, Martyrs, and Juvenal, Bishop & Confessor
Ss. Alexandri, Eventii et Theoduli Martyrum, ac Iuvenalis Episcopi et Confessoris
On this day the Church honours three early Roman martyrs — Alexander, Eventius, and Theodulus — together with Saint Juvenal, the first bishop of Narni in Umbria.
This feast joins on a single day the memory of several servants of God whose veneration is very old. With the martyrs Alexander, Eventius, and Theodulus is honoured Saint Juvenal, a bishop and confessor of central Italy. The Church keeps their memory together, even where the particulars of their lives have not all come down to us with certainty.
The Roman martyrs
Alexander, Eventius, and Theodulus were venerated from ancient times at Rome, where their tombs lay on the Via Nomentana outside the city. The early tradition associates Eventius and Theodulus, two priests, with a martyrdom in the second century, and joins to them the name Alexander, identified in the Roman liturgy with Pope Saint Alexander I, whose name is spoken in the Canon of the Mass among the holy martyrs. The detailed accounts of their passion belong to a class of pious narratives whose particulars cannot all be confirmed by history; what is sure is that these were holy witnesses honoured at Rome from very early days, whose graves the faithful kept as places of prayer.
Saint Juvenal of Narni
Saint Juvenal is venerated as the first bishop of Narni in Umbria, who governed that Church in the fourth century and is said to have died peacefully about the year 377. He is honoured not as a martyr but as a confessor — one who bore faithful witness to Christ by a holy life. The early Church of Narni cherished his memory as that of its founding shepherd, and his name was joined to this day in the Roman calendar.
The collect of the Mass, drawn from the common of several martyrs, asks that we who keep the heavenly birthday of these saints may, through their prayers, be delivered from all the evils that threaten us. In honouring them the Church remembers both the blood of the martyrs and the quiet fidelity of the confessors, two paths that lead alike to God.
The Collect
Grant, we beseech thee, O almighty God: that we who keep the heavenly birthday of thy Saints Alexander, Eventius, Theodulus, and Juvenal, may by their intercession be delivered from all the evils that threaten us.
Præsta, quæsumus, omnípotens Deus: ut, qui sanctórum tuórum Alexándri, Eventíi, Theóduli, atque Iuvenális natalítia cólimus; a cunctis malis imminéntibus, eórum intercessiónibus liberémur.
Patronage
The three martyrs are venerated among the early martyrs of Rome; Saint Juvenal is honoured as the first bishop and patron of the city of Narni in Umbria.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar this feast is no longer kept on the universal calendar.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saints Alexander, Eventius, Theodulus and Juvenal?
Their feast is kept on 3 May in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Fourth Class feast.
Who were these saints?
Alexander, Eventius, and Theodulus were early Roman martyrs venerated on the Via Nomentana; the Roman liturgy identifies Alexander with Pope Saint Alexander I. Saint Juvenal was the first bishop of Narni in Umbria, a fourth-century confessor honoured on the same day.
How much is reliably known about them?
Their ancient veneration as holy witnesses is certain, as is Saint Juvenal’s place as first bishop of Narni. The detailed legends of the martyrs’ passion cannot all be confirmed by history, and the Church honours them soberly for what is sure.
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