Wednesday, March 14, 2012

St. Gabriel Possenti Patron Saint of Handgunners




via Joe.My.God from the gunsaint site.

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".

9 comments:

  1. So, what this little parable teaches us is that 20 armed men cannot overcome one man? And you gunzloonz think that such a story is good PR. On the plus side, HIS order prolly never had any problem collecting alms for the poor.

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  2. Would you consider this a defensive gun use? No one was shot save the poor lizard with bad timing. According to the CSGV stat keepers this wouldn't count.

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  3. I think the joke's on the gun-rights fanatics who think the Vatican will approve something like this. I'm praying to the saint myself now for guidance in my holy mission to counter the forces of evil.

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    1. And may he show you the light. Oooh, that'll be his miracle.

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  4. I hate to pee on your procession, but the story of St.Gabrielle Possenti is a myth. And it is more than a myth, it is a propaganda pr myth that was concocted by the Catholic Church as Garibaldi who was promoting the new modern Italian State was engaged in dismantling the medieval political dinosaur that were the Papal States. The Church of course portrayed Garibaldi as a demon. The same man depending on which history you read, portrays him as a revolutionary hero. He created the modern Italian State. He fought with the French against the Germans. He was a lot of things all of which made him a threat to the traditional medieval power of Roman Catholic Church. So the stories of the barbaric Garibaldian hordes raping and pillaging are propaganda myths, if you read the real history of the war fought to create the modern Italian state, this is all too evident.
    But at the time, the Catholic Church was all too eager to create religious hysterical myths in their desparation to cling to the absolute temporal power of the Church and the Papal States as a political power bas for the pope. To be realistic, you really have to look at the history of the Papal States in the 19th century. The Popes ruled as despotic tyrants, having absolute power and conducting from 1804 until the disollution of the Papal States almost 1000 public executions. Most were done by the "French Method" the guillotine, but if you read the historical record, it was really up to the whim of gthe Pope, who could order some rather grisly and theatrical entertainments. Over half of the executions were for ideological or "thought crimes".
    Most historians agree that the events described in the propaganda campaign that accompanied Possenti's fast tracked canonization were pure fabrication. but then again, the proponents of the rights of citizens to sport guns in churches and the lily livered weak willed religious fascists who knee jerk support these ideas don't nee facts, they do not want to listen to real history....they just believe that they believe in believing in something that sounds good to them...or something like that....what ever....I can give you links to the real history of the times and the political machinations of the Catholic Church at the fall of the Papal States to create propaganda....but the history is there if you want to look it up[ and read it.

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    1. Microdot, what's your point? The whole business of saints is mythology. That doesn't mean that the stories are false. They're myths, something that's a different category of knowledge. Your comment is the equivalent of saying that there's no historical evidence for the existence of Zeus. Of course not, but that's irrelevant.

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    2. Most of Catholic hagiography is myth. I heard about a very wise Theology professor who once said about all these stories, Adam and Eve, Mary being a virgin, all of them, "Did it happen? Noooo. Is it true? Yeeeess.

      I like that.

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  5. Greg, why are you such a melon? What is your point in asking me what my point is for providing the historical context for the story? I read your comments and try to figure out what you are trying to say besides semi coherent incompetent sniping. How can take you seriously if you are so obscure that no one can figure out what you are trying to say?
    I think my point is quite obvious regarding who would make Possenti their hero. You don't know about the St. Gabrielle Possenti Society's political involvement in the issue of guns in churches? Or the award given to the Republican Senator from Nebraska, John Snyder fro his pro gun activism?...It is a religious political activist organization in the USA.
    The point is not about actually believing in Saints, but the socio/political context behind the creation of a myth and how it is marketed today to promote a political agenda in America by cloaking it in Religion. I think knowing what you are talking about and having the facts to back your views up is important. We learn from history because we are the result of our history whether we like it or not. I for one am fascinated by history. I want to know how things evolved, but even more than that, I am truly obsessed with knowing.
    but then again...perhaps I wrote too many words for your pretty little head...what ever... sometimes I forget that it's hard to actually communicate with a melon.

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    1. I see that you've been reading out of Democommie's style manual. He typically compares me to body parts. I don't know, between the two of you, which is worse, but I do know that neither of you has an opinion worthy of my consideration.

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