I’m not Catholic, and I do not generally revere specific Saints. Nevertheless I found this very interesting tidbit over at the St. Gabriel Possenti Society:
The St. Gabriel Possenti Society promotes the public recognition of St. Gabriel Possenti, including his Vatican designation as Patron Saint of Handgunners.
St. Gabriel Possenti was a Catholic seminarian whose marksmanship and proficiency with handguns single-handedly saved the village of Isola, Italy from a band of 20 terrorists in 1860.
The Possenti Society offers a variety of materials related to St. Gabriel Possenti and a biblical understanding of self-defense.
The Savior of Isola
In 1860, a band of soldiers from the army of Garibaldi entered the mountain village of Isola, Italy. They began to burn and pillage the town, terrorizing its inhabitants.
Possenti, with his seminary rector’s permission, walked into the center of town, unarmed, to face the terrorists. One of the soldiers was dragging off a young woman he intended to rape when he saw Possenti and made a snickering remark about such a young monk being all alone.
Possenti quickly grabbed the soldier’s revolver from his belt and ordered the marauder to release the woman. The startled soldier complied, as Possenti grabbed the revolver of another soldier who came by. Hearing the commotion, the rest of the soldiers came running in Possenti’s direction, determined to overcome the rebellious monk.
At that moment a small lizard ran across the road between Possenti and the soldiers. When the lizard briefly paused, Possenti took careful aim and struck the lizard with one shot. Turning his two handguns on the approaching soldiers, Possenti commanded them to drop their weapons. Having seen his handiwork with a pistol, the soldiers complied. Possenti ordered them to put out the fires they had set, and upon finishing, marched the whole lot out of town, ordering them never to return. The grateful townspeople escorted Possenti in triumphant procession back to the seminary, thereafter referring to him as “the Savior of Isola”.
Sure enough, there are those that believe the story to be complete fiction, and others that believe it impossible that a monk would ever take up arms for any reason. I wasn’t there in Isola in 1860, so I don’t know for sure what happened. The Jeff Cooper Legacy Foundation calls him the Patron of Marksmen, and who am I to argue with the Good Colonel?
But I want to believe this story. I want to believe that not all that choose to follow Christ’s examples take their discipleship to also mean being pacifist in the face of imminent danger. Therefore, as far as this humble blog is concerned, I deem the story about St. Gabriel Possenti to be true, and I recommend he be designated by the Vatican as the Patron Saint of Handgunners.
Gabriel Possenti Society, Patron Saint, Handgun, Possenti, Isola
