Juvenal of Jerusalem

Saint Juvenal
Saint Juvenal
Patriarch of Jerusalem
Died	458
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church; Roman Catholic Church
Feast	July 2
Controversy	Christology

Saint Juvenal (Greek: Άγιος Ιουβενάλιος) was a bishop of Jerusalem from about 422. In 451, on the See of Jerusalem being recognised as a Patriarchate by the Council of Chalcedon, he became the first orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, an office he occupied until his death in 458.

Background

After the Siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 the city had been left in ruins, and after Hadrian's visit to the site in 135, a new Roman city was built, called Ælia Capitolina (Ælius was Hadrian's family nomen). Ælia was a town of little importance in the empire; the governor of the province resided at Caesarea. Caesarea became the metropolitan see; the Bishop of Ælia (Jerusalem) was merely one of its suffragans.[1]

Life

Juvenal wanted to make Jerusalem into a patriarchate, but Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria and Pope Leo I opposed the separation of Jerusalem from Cæsarea and Antioch.[2]

In 429, Patriarch Juvenal consecrated the Laura of Euthymius, located on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, and supplied it with presbyters and deacons.[3]

In 431, Juvenal sided with Cyril against Nestorius at the First Council of Ephesus.[4]

In 449, Juvenal was one of the leaders of the Second Council of Ephesus, being the first to sign it. This led to his name being removed from the diptychs of the churches that rejected the council. However he changed his stance at the Council of Chalcedon convened later, condemning the previous council.[5]

In 451, the Fourth Ecumenical Council met in the city of Chalcedon. It condemned the Monophysite heresy, which taught that the human nature in Christ was totally absorbed by the divine nature. Juvenal was among those who condemned the heresy and affirmed the Orthodox doctrine of the union of two natures in Jesus Christ, the divine and the human, without separation and without mixture.[4] When Dioscorus of Alexandria was tried for violation of canonical law, Juvenal voted for his condemnation. The attenders of the council consented to the establishment of the patriarchate of Jerusalem, but when Juvenal returned to his throne, Monophysites drove him from it and installed Theodosius as the patriarch. Theodosius reportedly filled Jerusalem with blood, then raised a military company to punish other rivals in the region like Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, whom he brutally executed in 452 or 453 AD.[6] Imperial troops restored Juvenal in 453, and he served in peace until his death in 458.[2][7]

Canonisation

Juvenal is regarded as a saint in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church with his feast day celebrated on July 2.[8]

References

Fortescue, Adrian. "Jerusalem (A.D. 71-1099)." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 9 Mar. 2014
Keck, Karen Rae. "St. Juvenal of Jerusalem", The Saint Pachomius Library
"Venerable Euthymius the Great", Orthodox church in America
"St Juvenal the Patriarch of Jerusalem", Orthodox Church in America
Piercy, William C.; Wace, Henry (1911). "Juvenalis, bishop of Jerusalem" . Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century. JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET – via Wikisource.
Levy, Rosalie Marie. (1984). 2nd edition. Heavenly Friends. Boston:St. Paul Editions. p. 90.
John Rufus (2008). Horn, Cornelia B.; Phenix, Robert R. (eds.). John Rufus: The Lives of Peter the Iberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus. Writings from the Greco-Roman World. Society of Biblical Literature. pp. lxxxviii–lxxxix. ISBN 978-1-58983-200-8. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
Great Synaxaristes (in Greek): Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰουβενάλιος Πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων. 2 Ιουλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.

Bishops and Patriarchs of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem
Bishops of Jerusalem (until 451)	James, brother of Jesus Simeon of Jerusalem Justus Zacchaeus Tobias Benjamin John I Matthias Philip Senecas Justus II Levis Ephram Joseph I Judas Marcus Cassianus Poplius Maximus I Julian I Gaius I Symmachus Gaius II Julian II Capion Maximus II Antoninus Valens Dolichianus Narcissus Dius Germanion Gordius Alexander Mazabanis Imeneus Zamudas Ermon Macarius Maximus III Cyril I John II Praulius Juvenal
Patriarchs of Jerusalem (from 451)	Juvenal Anastasius I Martyrius Sallustius Elias John III Peter Macarius II Eustochius John IV Amos Isaac Zacharias Modestus Sophronius Anastasius II John V Theodore Elias II George Thomas I Basileus John VI Sergius I Solomon Theodosius Elias III Sergius II Leontius I Athanasius I Christodulus Agathon John VII Christodulus II Thomas II Joseph II Orestes Theophilus I Nicephorus I Joannichius Sophronius II Euthemius Simeon II Savvas^§ John VIII^§ Nicolas^§ John IX^§ Nicephorus II^§ Leontius II^§ Dositheos I Marcus II Euthemius II Athanasius II Sophronius III Gregory I Thaddaeus Athanasius III Gregory II Lazarus Dorotheus I Theophilus II Theophanes I Joachim Theophanes II Athanasius IV Jacob II Abraham I Gregory III Marcus III Dorotheus II Germanus Sophronius IV Theophanes III Paiseus Nectarius I Dositheos II Chrysanthus Meletius Parthenius Ephram II Sophronius V Abraham II Procopius I Anthemus Polycarpus Athanasius V Cyril II Procopius II Hierotheus Nicodemus I Gerasimus I Damian I Timotheus I Benedict I Diodoros I Irenaios I Theophilus III
^§: in exile at Constantinople due to the Latin rule over Jerusalem

Juvenal of Jerusalem

Background

Life

Canonisation

References

Further reading